THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


THE    OAKLAND   STORIES. 


BY 


GEO.    B.    TAYLOR, 


OF     VIRGINIA. 


NEW  YORK: 

SHELDON     &     COMPANY 

835  BKOADWAT,  COB.  WOKTH  ST. 
1863. 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1859, 

By  SHELDON  &  COMPANY, 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States  for  the 
Southern  District  of  New  York. 


HEW  YORK : 

B1LLIN    AND    BROTHER,    PRINTERS, 
XX,  NORTH   WILLIAM  ST. 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


VIEW  OF  OAKLAND, Vignette  Title. 

EQUESTRIAN  STATUE, PAGE    26 

THE  MYSTERIOUS  FIGURE, 34 

KENNY  IN  THE  KITCHEN, 88 

BUILDING  THE  GREENHOUSE, 138 


SCENE  OF  THE  STORY. 

Oakland,  Mr.  ELLIS'S  residence,  about  a  mile  from 
the  city. 


PRINCIPAL  PERSONS. 

Mr.  ELLIS,  a  wealthy  gentleman  who  is  not  engaged 
in  any  business. 

Mrs.  ELLIS. 

Mr.  MERIDETT,  a  cousin  of  Mrs.  ELLIS,  and  generally 
called  in  the  family  "Cousin  Guy."  He  is  a  young 
minister. 

KENNY,  the  older  son  of  Mr.  ELLIS'  seven  years  old. 

FRANK,  the  younger  son,  four  years  old. 

GUSTAVE,  Mr.  ELLIS'S  gardener,  a  German. 


PEEFACE. 


THE  author  was  moved  to  write  "The  Oakland 
Stories"  chiefly  by  the  remembrance  of  the  pleasure 
and  profit  afforded  him  in  his  childhood,  by  the  Kollo 
Books,  and  other  works  of  similar  character.  He 
hereby  acknowledges  his  indebtedness  to  Jacob  Abbott, 
not  only  for  much  instruction  received,  but  also  for 
the  idea  of  the  present  series.  The  Oakland  Stories 
are,  however,  strictly  original,  being  in  fact,  mostly 
not  fiction,  but  a  description  of  real  scenes  and  per 
sons.  The  author  has  sought  not  so  much  to  convey 
direct  moral  and  religious  instruction,  as  to  have  it 
pervade  the  very  atmosphere  of  the  narrative.  He 
feels  quite  sure  that  no  youth  can  be  harmed  by 
reading  these  pages,  while  he  would  fain  hope  that 
they  may  prove  interesting,  and  to  some  humble 
extent  even  useful.  The  present  volume  will  be 
followed  by  at  least  two  others  of  similar  character 
to  complete  the  series. 


KENNY. 

CHAPTER    I. 

AN  ACCOMPLISHMENT. 

had  been  talking  with  his  cousin, 
Guy ;  but  now  Cousin  Guy  was  busy,  and 
Kenny  had  no  one  to  keep  him  company,  and 
nothing  to  do.  He  sat  down  on  the  stone  steps 
before  the  front  door,  feeling  not  exactly  unhappy, 
but  rather  uncomfortable.  Presently  he  heard  the 
sound  of  a  horse's  feet  and  of  wheels  in  the  lane. 

"  Ah,"  said  he,  "  that's  my  father  coming  from 
town.  I  will  go  and  open  the  gate  for  him,  and 
then  I  will  ask  him  to  do  something  for  me." 

It  was  a  very  common  thing  with  Kenny,  when 
he  was  lonesome  and  tired,  to  ask  some  of  the 
older  members  of  the  family  to  do  something  for 
him.  On  this  occasion  he  ran  to  meet  his  father, 
and  was  just  in  the  act  of  opening  the  gate  when 


10  KENNY. 

the  carriage  came  up.  The  gate  was  a  somewhat 
peculiar  one,  very  large,  of  wooden  frame,  and 
with  iron  wire  woven  into  a  sort  of  net- work.  Mr. 
Ellis  had  found  it  lying  and  rusting  in  a  depot 
yard,  had  bought  it,  had  it  repaired  and  painted, 
and  now  it  was  a  very  good  and  ornamental  gate. 
As  the  latch  was  too  high  for  Kenny  to  reach, 
when  he  wanted  to  open  the  gate,  he  would  climb 
up,  using  the  openings  in  the  net-work  like 
rounds  of  a  ladder.  Mr.  Ellis  thought  it  was  very 
good  in  Kenny  to  come  in  this  way  and  open  the 
gate  for  him,  and  when  he  had  driven  through,  he 
stopped  the  horse  and  took  Kenny  in  the  carriage 
with  him,  and  together  they  drove  round  to  the 
stable.  As  they  came  to  the  house,  with  their 
hands  full  of  bundles,  which  Mr.  Ellis  had  brought 
from  town,  Kenny  said : 

"Father,  please  do  something  for  me.  I  am 
so  tired." 

"  Tired,  my  son  !  what  have  you  been  doing  ?" 
"Oh!   tired  of  being  by  myself  and  having 
nothing  particular  to  do." 

"What  shall  I  do  for  you?"  said  Mr.  Ellis,  as 
they  placed  the  packages  on  the  passage  table, 
and  came  into  the  library. 

"  O !  any  thing ;  I  want  you  to  choose." 
"  "Well,  I  think  I  will  draw  for  you,  I  have  told 
you  so  many  stories." 


A    BALLOON.  11 


"  That  will  be  first-rate ;  but  I  wish  you  would 
tell  me  a  story,  too." 

"  Well,  I  will  first  draw  you  a  picture,  and  then 
tell  you  a  story  about  it." 

So  Mr.  Ellis  drew  up  his  large  arm-chair  to  the 
desk,  took  off  his  spectacles,  and,  bending  his  head 
close  to  the  paper,  began  to  draw.  He  wore  spec 
tacles  because  he  was  near-sighted ;  and  when  he 
read  or  wrote,  he  would  frequently  take  them  off, 
and  instead  of  using  them,  have  the  book  or  paper 
near  his  eyes.  On  this  occasion  Kenny  stood  by, 
no  longer  listless  and  fretful,  but  deeply  interested 
in  watching  the  progress  of  the  picture.  Presently 
Cousin  Guy  came  in  and  went  to  the  book-case, 
and  took  out  a  large  book,  which  he  laid  down  on 
the  floor,  and.  kneeling  down,  began  to  read..  He 
did  not  seem  to  notice  that  any  one  was  in  the 
room.  Kenny,  without  looking  up  from  the 
drawing,  said : 

"  I  say,  Cousin  Guy,"  and  waited  for  a  reply. 

"Well?" 

"Father  is  doing  something  for  me.  He  is 
drawing  me  a  picture,  and  then  he  is  going  to  tell 
me  a  story — a  story  about  the  picture." 

"  What  is  the  picture  off" 

"  I  don't  know  yet ;  I  am  watching.  Father, 
what  is  that  round  thing?" 

"  O  !  you  must  wait  and  find  out  yourself." 


12  KENNY    IS    INTERESTED. 


"  I  can  guess  without  looking,"  said  Cousin  Guy. 

"What?" 

"Awheel." 

"Is  it,  father?" 

"Wait  and  see." 

"Cousin  Guy,  what  are  you  doing  with  that 
book?" 

"  Eeading  it." 

"  Why  don't  you  carry  it  up  to  your  room  ?" 

"Because  I  don't  want  to  read  it  long;  I  am 
nearly  done  now." 

"What  is  it?" 

"  An  encyclopedia." 

"What  is  that?" 

"A  sort  of  dictionary :  a  book  that  tells  about  a 
great  many  things.  It  is  not  intended  to  be  read 
straight  through,  but  to  be  referred  to  whenever 
anybody  wants  to  find  out  about  some  particular 
subject." 

"  Ah,  yes ;  I  understand.  Well,  what  did  you 
want  to  find  out  about  now?" 

"  Diamonds." 

"  That  is  funny.   Will  you  tell  me  about  them  ?" 

"Yes,  some  time;  but  you  must  learn  to 
read,  then  you  can  find  out  things  for  your 
self." 

"  I  don't  care  about  learning  to  read.  I  would 
rather  you  and  father  should  tell  me  things." 


THE    BALLOON.  13 

"Kenny,"  said  Mr.  Ellis,  "you  will  disturb 
Cousin  Guy.  You  look  at  what  I  am  drawing  for 

you." 

"  I  am  looking,  sir.  I  can  look  and  talk,  too  ; 
and  Cousin  Guy  can  read  and  talk,  too.  But  O ! 
I  see.  Father,  it  is  not  a  wheel.  It  is  not  a  wheel, 
Cousin  Guy." 

"What  is  it?" 

"  I  don't  know  yet ;  but  it  is  not  a  wheel.  It  is 
not  perfectly  round.  The  upper  part  is  shaped 
like  a  pear,  with  the  stem  turned  downward.  O 
yes,  I  see  now :  it  is  a  balloon — yes,  it  is  a  bal 
loon." 

And  Kenny  clapped  his  hands  in  glee  at  having 
found  out  that  it  was  a  balloon. 

Mr.  Ellis  seemed  pleased  at  Kenny's  delight, 
but  said  nothing,  and  quietly  went  on  with  his 
drawing.  Having  drawn  the  outline  of  the  bal 
loon,  he  proceeded  to  draw  two  men  sitting  in  the 
car  below,  and  fine  net-work  over  all  the  upper 
part,  and  the  cords  extending  from  the  sides  and 
holding  the  balloon  to  the  ground.  The  cords 
were  straight,  and  had  the  appearance  of  being 
stretched  very  tight. 

"  Ah !"  said  Kenny,  "  it  looks  as  if  it  was  pull 
ing  away,  and  wanted  to  fly  off  among  the  clouds." 

"Yes,"  said  Mr.  Ellis,  "if  those  cords  were  cut, 
away  it  would  go." 
2 


14  THE    BALLOON    FINISHED. 


Both  he  and  Kenny  were  evidently  beginning 
to  feel  as  if  it  were  a  real  balloon. 

"Now,  father,  please  draw  a  whole  crowd  of 
people  looking  on  at  the  balloon  about  to  go 
up." 

"  Presently,  as  soon  as  I  have  drawn  some  flags 
hanging  out." 

"  Why,  father,"  said  Kenny,  in  a  minute  more, 
"  what  are  all  those  round  things  ?" 

"  Those  are  the  heads  of  the  people,"  said  Mr. 
Ellis  ;  and,  sure  enough,  pretty  soon,  there  seemed 
to  be  a  great  crowd  of  people  standing  around. 
Then  he  drew  in  the  background  a  house  and 
some  trees,  and  then — the  picture  was  done. 

"  Oh  !  I  hope  the  balloon  will  not  get  tangled 
in  those  wood^,"  said  Kenny. 

Cousin  Guy  now  got  up,  and  put  the  large  book 
back  in  its  place,  and  then  came  and  stood  behind 
Mr.  Ellis  and  Kenny,  and  looked  over  their  shoul 
ders  at  the  picture  which  was  lying  before  them  on 
the  desk.  He  said  quite  earnestly  : 

"  Oh !  what  a  good  picture.  Mr.  Ellis,  I  did 
not  know  you  could  draw  so  well.  Did  you  ever 
take  drawing  lessons  ?" 

"  No,  I  never  took  regular  lessons,  but  I  was  al 
ways  fond  of  drawing,  and  used  to  practise  a  good 
deal.  "When  I  was  a  boy,  I  thought  I  would  be  a 
surveyor." 


ME.    ELLIS'S    PICTURE.  15 


"  What  is  that?"  asked  Kenny. 

"A  man  who  goes  and  looks  at  ground,  and 
measures  it,  and  then  makes  a  map  or  picture  of 
it,  and  describes  how  much  it  is,  and  how  it  lies — 
that  is,  whether  it  is  level  or  hilly,  and  whether 
any  streams  run  through  it." 

"  I  always  thought,"  said  Cousin  Guy,  "  that  if 
I  were  not  a  preacher,  I  would  like  to  be  a  sur 
veyor.  It  would  be  so  pleasant  to  be  so  much  out 
of  doors,  and  then  I  could  collect  all  sorts  of  woods, 
and  leaves,  and  flowers,  and  insects." 

"I  should  like  that"  said  Kermy. 

"  I  will  show  you,"  said  Mr.  Ellis,  addressing 
Cousin  Guy,  "  a  picture  that  I  drew  when  I  was 
at  college — a  picture  of  one  of  the  professors." 

So  he  opened  the  desk,  and  then  touched  a 
spring,  and  a  little  secret  drawer  flew  open.  This 
drawer  seemed  to  contain  little  things  that  Mr. 
Ellis  prized  very  much.  Kenny  was  anxious  to 
examine  them,  and  Mr.  Ellis  promised  him  that 
some  day  he  might  do  so.  From  this  drawer,  Mr. 
Ellis  took  out  and  handed  to  Cousin  Guy  the 

picture,  saying :  "  That  is  Dr.  "VV ,  and  is  really 

exactly  like  him.  I  prize  it  very  much."  The 
picture  Cousin  Guy  thought  excellent,  and  so  did 
Kenny,  though  he  liked  the  balloon  better.  The 
face  was  a  very  remarkable  one  indeed.  The  eye 
brows  were  large  and  shaggy,  and  overhanging 


16  "BOTH,    SIB." 

deep-set  eyes ;  they  wore  a  very  stern  appearance. 
The  nose,  too,  was  unusually  large. 

"But,  father,"  said  Kenny,  "you  forgot  you 
were  going  to  tell  me  a  story  about  the  picture  ?" 

"  And  you,  Kenny,"  said  Cousin  Guy,  "  are 
forgetting  to  thank  your  father  for  drawing  for 
you." 

"  O  no  !  Cousin  Guy,  I  am  only  waiting  for  the 
story,  and  then  I  mean  to  thank  him  for  all  at 
once.  It  is  a  beautiful  picture." 

"  I  will  give  you  your  choice,"  said  his  father, 
"whether  I  shall  tell  you  a  story  about  this  bal 
loon,  or  tell  you  all  about  how  a  balloon  is  made 
and  used." 

"£oth,  sir." 

"  I  cannot  tell  you  both  now." 

"  "Will  you  tell  me  one  now,  and  the  other  some 
day." 

"  I  reckon  so." 

"  Which  shall  I  have  first,  cousin  ?" 

"  Have  the  description  first,  then  you  will  un 
derstand  the  story  better  afterwards."  So  Kenny 
concluded  he  would  have  the  description,  and  wait 
for  the  story.  But  before  his  father  could  give  it 
to  him,  the  dinner-bell  rang,  and  all  three  went 
into  the  dining-room,  where  they  found  Mrs.  Ellis 
and  Frank  waiting  for  them. 

After  dinner  all  went  into  the  library.     Mrs. 


ADVANTAGE    OF    READING.  17 

Ellis  read  the  papers  which  Mr.  Ellis  had  brought 
from  the  post-office.  Cousin  Guy  romped  with 
Kenny  and  Frank,  and  Mr.  Ellis  went  to  the  book 
case  and  took  out  a  large  book,  like  that  which 
Cousin  Guy  had  been  reading,  and  turned  over 
the  leaves,  as  if  looking  for  something.  Kenny 
came  and  stood  by  him,  and  said : 

"Father,  Cousin  Guy  looked  in  that  book  to 
find  out  about  some  particular  thing ;  what  do  you 
want  to  find  out  about  ?" 

"  Can't  you  guess  ?" 

"  Balloons !" 

"  Yes,  balloons.  I  promised  to  tell  you  about 
them,  and  though  I  know  something  already,  I 
thought  I  would  learn  some  more.  You  see  how 
convenient  it  is  to  be  able  to  read." 

"  "We've  got  a  lot  of  books,  father,  when  I  do 
learn.  I  almost  wish  I  did  know  how." 

Kenny  was  old  enough  to  learn,  but  he  did  not 
seem  inclined  to  do  so,  and  his  parents  wisely  did 
not  press  him,  as  they  feared  it  would  give  him  a 
distaste  for  study,  and  besides,  they  did  not  want 
him  to  sit  still  or  apply  his  mind  much  while  he 
was  young,  lest  it  should  injure  his  health.  At 
the  same  time,  they  thought  it  would  be  a  source 
of  interesting  employment  for  him  if  he  could 
only  read,  and  they  frequently  spoke  of  the  ad 
vantage  of  reading,  hoping  that  Kenny  would 
2* 


18  DESCRIPTION    OF   A    BALLOON. 


himself  become  anxious  to  learn,  in  which  case  it 
would  be  very  easy.  And,  in  fact,  by  looking  at 
pictures,  and  having  them  explained  to  him,  he 
was  gradually,  and  almost  without  knowing  it, 
learning  to  make  oat  short  and  simple  words. 

"Well,  now,  father,"  said  Kenny,  as  Mr.  Ellis 
put  the  book  away,  "  tell  me  about  balloons." 

"I  will,  and  the  best  way  will  be  for  you  to  ask 
me  whatever  you  want  to  know." 

"  What  are  they  made  of,  and  how  do  they  go 
np?" 

"  They  are  generally  made  of  oil  silk,  and  are 
filled  with  gas — lighter  than  air — so  that  they  rise 
in  the  air,  just  as  a  cork,  being  lighter  than  water, 
rises  in  the  water.  Over  the  silk  is  a  net- work  to 
protect  the  silk,  as  it  is  easily  torn-,  and  a  very 
small  hole  even  would  let  the  gas  out,  so  that  the 
balloon  would  not  go  up." 

"  Would  &  pin-hole  let  the  gas  out?" 

"  Yes ;  but  not  very  fast." 

"  How  do  men  ride  in  balloons  ?  I  should  think 
they  wrould  tear  the  silk." 

"  There  is  a  car  hung  on  below  in  which  they  sit." 

"  Yes,  I  remember  you  drew  it  so.  But,  father, 
how  do  they  make  the  balloon  come  down  ?" 

"  By  letting  out  some  of  the  light  gas ;  some 
thing  as  the  engineer  makes  the  engine  go  slower 
and  stop  by  letting  off  the  steam." 


PAKACHUTES.  19 

"  Can  they  guide  the  balloon  ?" 

"Not  much;  it  generally  goes  wherever  the 
wind  carries  it.  Sometimes  it  descends  into  the 
ocean,  sometimes  into  a  tree.  They  generally  car 
ry  up  weights,  and  then  if  the  balloon  begins  to 
descend  too  fast,  or  is  about  to  fall  into  some  dan 
gerous  place,  they  throw  out  the  weights,  so  that 
it  falls  more  slowly,  and  the  wind  may  blow  it 
where  it  will  come  down  safely.  But,  after  all, 
there  is  danger." 

"  Suppose  the  balloon  should  tear,  or  any  thing 
should  happen  when  it  was  away  up,  what  would 
the  men  do?  They  would  certainly  be  killed, 
would'nt  they  ?" 

"  They  generally  carry  with  them  a  parachute, 
which  is  an  instrument  something  like  an  umbrel 
la  ;  holding  this  in  the  hand,  a  man  may  often  de 
scend  without  injury." 

"  But,  papa,  you  did  not  tell  me  how  they  got 
the  gas  into  the  balloon." 

"  The  gas  is  made  in  a  vessel,  and  then  con 
ducted  into  the  balloon  by  tubes  made  for  the 
purpose.  I  saw  one  once  while  it  was  being  filled ; 
it  was  held  to  the  earth  by  cords,  and  it  swung 
back  and  forth  in  the  wind  as  if  it  longed  to  be 
gone." 

"  How  I  should  like  to  sail  in  a  balloon  !  it 
would  be  so  funny  to  be  over  the  tops  of  the 


20  KENNY    AND    GUSTAVE. 


houses,  and  to  look  down  on  people's  heads  and 
into  the  chimneys !" 

"  I  dpn't  think  you  will  ever  ride  in  one.  You 
will  hardly  have  a  chance,  and  if  you  did,  you 
would  probably  be  afraid  to  go.  But  you  might 
have  a  small  balloon." 

"  O  !  father,  that  would  be  splendid  !  How 
shall  I  get  it  ?  ^hen  shall  I  have  it  ?" 

"  I  will  give  you  the  materials,  and  Gustave  and 
you  can  make  it.  I  do  not  know  exactly  when  it 
will  be,  and  you  must  have  patience.  I  cannot 
explain  to  you  how  it  is  made.  I  have  not 
time  to  talk  to  you  any  more  now,  besides  you 
must  wait  and  see  for  yourself.  Now,  run  and 
play." 

"Yes,  father,  I  thank  you  for  drawing  for  me 
and  talking  to  me,  and  please  don't  forget  the 
story  you  are  to  tell  me  about  a  balloon.  I  will 
go  now  and  tell  Gustave." 

So  Kenny  went  into  the  garden  to  find  Gustave. 
He  found  him  carrying  pea-sticks  in  a  wheel-bar 
row,  and  as  Gustave  put  these  away  in  the  stable 
loft,  and  then  went  back  for  another  load,  Kenny 
told  him  all  that  his  father  had  been  telling,  and 
especially  the  promise  of  a  balloon.  Gustave 
said  he  knew  how  to  make  it,  and  would  make  it 
any  time  that  Mr.  Ellis  wanted  him.  Gustave 
was  not  only  a  very  ingenious  fellow,  but  very 


CUTTING    OUT    A    PICTURE.  21 


pleasant  and  accommodating,  and  willing  to  do 
any  thing  for  any  of  the  family. 

When  Kenny  had  talked  to  Gustave,  and  played 
till  he  was  tired,  he  thought  he  would  pay*" Cousin 
Guy  a  visit,  and  see  if  he  was  at  leisure  now,  and 
would  talk  to  him.  Kenny  was  very  fond  of  hav 
ing  Cousin  Guy  talk  to  him.  Going  to  his  room 
now,  he  found  him  at  his  desk  writing,  and  appar 
ently  very  busy.  Kenny  tripped  in  very  softly,  and 
stood  by  the  desk.  Presently  Cousin  Guy  said : 

"Well,  Kenny." 

"Please,  Cousin  Guy,  do  something  for  me." 

"  Don't  you  see  I  am  busy  ?" 

"  Yes,  but  I  thought  maybe  you  would  stop." 

"  I  cannot  stop  now  to  talk  to  you,  Kenny.  I 
am  writing  my  sermon." 

"  I  wonder  if  it  will  have  any  thing  in  it  that  I 
can  understand." 

"  Yes,  I  think  so  ;  I  want  you  to  look  out.  I 
will  give  you  something  to  do  now,  that  will  be 
better  than  doing  something  for  you." 

"  What  is  it  2" 

"  Take  the  picture  your  father  drew  for  you  this 
morning,  and  get  a  pair  of  scissors  and  cut  out 
the  picture  from  the  rest  of  the  paper,  cutting 
along  the  lines  made  by  the  pencil.  This  will 
employ  you  till  supper.  Do  you  understand  what 
I  mean  ?" 


22       COUSIN  GUY'S  INSTRUCTIONS. 


"  Yes,  I  reckon  so.  "Will  it  be  of  any  use  be 
sides  keeping  me  busy  ?" 

"  Yes,  I  think  it  will  be  useful  to  you ;  but  I 
cannot  talk  to  you  now.  You  may  come  liere  and 
sit  if  you  will  be  still." 

So  Kenny  came  and  sat  by  Cousin  Guy,  and 
amused  himself  in  the  way  proposed  till  supper 
time  ;  by  which  time  he  had  the  balloon  and  the 
house  cut  out  of  the  paper,  but  the  tree  and  the 
crowd  of  people,  he  said,  he  could  not  cut  out. 
As  they  went  down  together,  Kenny  asked  Cousin 
Guy  what  good  it  did  to  cut  out  pictures.  Cousin 
Guy  answered  that  it  would  teach  him  exactly  the 
shape  of  things,  and  help  him  to  draw  them ;  and 
besides,  when  he  had  cut  the  shape  of  any  thing 
he  could  lay  it  on  paper,  and,  drawing  the  pencil 
round  the  edges,  make  a  copy.  When  Mr.  Ellis 
heard  of  this,  he  said  it  was  a  very  good  idea  in 
deed.  And  after  supper  Kenny  laid  the  balloon 
on  a  piece  of  paper,  and  by  drawing  the  pencil 
along  the  edges,  in  the  way  directed,  he  drew  a 
balloon  which,  Mr.  Ellis  said,  was  almost  equal  to 
the  original. 

This  day  was  quite  an  era  in  Kenny's  life.  From 
this  time,  almost  every  day,  Mr.  Ellis  would  draw 
something  for  him,  telling  him  about  the  things 
drawn.  Kenny  would  look  on,  making  remarks 
and  suggestions.  It  was  very  little  trouble  to  Mr. 


DRAWING,  AN    ACCOMPLISHMENT.       23 


Ellis,  as  he  drew  so  well,  and  Kenny  both  derived 
great  pleasure  and  really  got  a  very  good  idea  of 
the  way  to  draw.  All  the  pictures  he  kept  very 
carefully.  And  all  that  he  could,  he  cut  out  and 
pasted  in  a  blank  book,  which  his  father  gave  him 
for  the  purpose. 

But  at  last  Kenny  became  so  fond  of  these  pic 
tures,  and  had  learned  so  well  how  to  cut  them  out, 
that  his  father  concluded  to  let  him  make  them 
for  himself.  He  would  often  begin  a  picture,  and 
let  Kenny  finish  it.  Sometimes  he  would  look  over 
and  tell  him  how  to  make  certain  lines,  and  occa 
sionally  take  the  pencil  an£  put  on  a  touch  or  two. 
"When  a  picture  was  done,  he  would  praise  its  ex 
cellences,  and  criticize  its  defects.  In  this  way 
he  would  both  improve  Kenny  in  his  drawing  and 
encourage  him  to  try.  Mr.  Ellis  was  quite  glad 
to  see  Kenny  so  fond  of  drawing,  as  he  thought  it 
a  very  desirable  accomplishment,  and  he  Jmew 
that  he  could  learn  better  then  than  after  he  be 
came  older,  and  that  by  such  constant  practice  he 
would  acquire  great  facility  in  using  his  pencil. 
He  found,  too,  that  Kenny  was  better  pleased  with 
drawing  for  himself,  with  a  little  assistance,  than 
in  having  it  done  for  him.  There  was  also  this 
advantage,  that  Kenny  could  now  amuse  himself 
for  hours  without  relying  much  upon  others.  He 
was  constantly  calling  for  paper,  but  with  this  he 


24:  KENNY    DRAWS    A    HORSE. 


was  plentifully  supplied — his  father  and  cousin 
giving  the  blank  paper  of  all  the  letters  which 
they  received.  Occasionally  he  would  scribble  on 
books,  or  on  the  walls ;  but  after  one  or  two  lec 
tures  on  -the  impropriety  of  such  employment,  he 
concluded  to  leave  it  for  Frank,  who  did  not  know 
any  better. 

One  day  Kenny  came  to  his  cousin's  room  bring 
ing  a  picture,  and  laid  it  before  him.  It  was  a  pic 
ture  of  a  horse  rearing  on  his  hind  feet,  and  tb 
rider  drawing  the  reins  tightly.  It  was  quite  a 
spirited  picture,  indeed.  Cousin  Guy  looked  at 
it  and  admired  it,  and  then  said  : 

"  I  suppose  your  father  drew  that  for  you." 

"  No.  I  drew  it  myself.  Father  did  not  even 
help  me." 

Cousin  Guy  was  puzzled.  He  knew  that  Ken 
ny  would  not  tell  a  story,  and  yet  he  could  hardly 
believe  that  he  had  drawn  so  good  a  picture  en 
tirely  without  help,  so  he  said : 

"  Didn't  you  have  any  help  of  any  kind  ?" 

Up  to  this  time  Kenny  had  looked  very  grav 
but  now  the  corners  of  his  mouth  began  to  move, 
and  he  said : 

"No  person  helped  me,  cousin.  You  must 
find  out  the  rest  yourself." 

"That  night  the  mystery  was  explained.  Over 
the  mantel-piece  in  the  library  was  a  picture  of 


Equestrian  Statue 


THE    EQUESTRIAN    STATUE.  27 

the  equestrian  statue  of  Washington  at  Richmond, 
which  Mr.  Ellis  had  purchased  that  day.  Kenny,- 
laying  a  piece  of  thin  paper  upon  it,  observed 
that  he  could  see  the  picture  through  the  paper, 
and,  carefully  holding  the  paper  in  this  way,  had 
succeeded  in  making  an  almost  exact  copy. 

After  this,  Kenny  would  frequently  draw  in  this 
way,  and  bring  the  picture  to  Cousin  Guy,  who 
would  be  very  much  surprised  at  first,  until  he  re 
membered  how  it  was  done. 

"  Cousin  Guy,"  said  Kenny  one  day,  "  why 
don't  you  draw  some  for  me  sometimes?" 

"  You  know,  Kenny,  I  tell  you  stories  and  talk 
to  you.  That  is  my  part." 

"  Yes,  I  know  that,  but  father  talks  to  me  and 
tells  me  stories,  and  draws  for  me,  too." 

"  Your  father  knows  how  to  draw :  I  do  not." 

"  Did  you  never  learn  ?" 

"  No,  I  never  learned,  and  do  not  think  I  have 
any  talent  for  it." 

"I  think,"  said  Mr.  Ellis,  "that  almost  every 
one  can  learn  to  draw,  if  he  will  only  try,  and 
practise.  I  have  no  doubt  that  you  could  now 
even  draw  a  great  deal  better  than  you  have  any 
idea  of." 

"  Do  you  really  think  so  ?    I  would  like  very 

uch  to  be  able  to  draw,  if  it  was  only  a  lit 
tle." 


COUSIN    GUY'S    PICTURE. 


"  Suppose  now  you  try :  take  a  picture,  and  try 
to  copy  it  as  exactly  as  you  can." 

"  Please  do,  Cousin  Guy,"  said  Kenny ;  "  I 
want  so  much  to  see  you  draw." 

"  And  will  you  promise  not  to  laugh  at  me  ?" 

"  Of  course  I  will  not  laugh  at  you." 

Here  Mr.  Ellis  took  a  book  from  the  library,  and 
opened  to  a  page  on  which  there  were  pictures  of 
three  horses — an  Arabian,  a  hunter,  and  an  English 
racer ;  and  asked  Cousin  Guy  to  copy  one  of  these. 
He  said  he  would  be  very  glad  to  try,  and  asked 
Kenny  which  he  should  draw.  Kenny  chose  the 
Arabian.  Cousin  Guy  then  laid  the  book  before 
him  on  the  desk,  and  began  very  carefully  to  make 
the  copy.  He  said  it  reminded  him  of  when  he 
was  a  little  boy  learning  to  write.  Presently, 
Kenny,  who  was  watching  with  intense  interest 
the  progress  of  the  picture,  exclaimed  : 

"  O,  what  a  beautiful  head'!" 

"  Yes,  Kenny,"  said  Cousin  Guy,  "  I  can  make 
the  head  and  neck  very  well,  but  the  hind  legs  are 
the  difficult  part." 

"Just  follow  the  copy,"  said  Mr.  Ellis,  "and  it 
will  come  out  more  like  than  you  think." 

"  I  think,"  said  Kenny,  "  it  is  coming  out  first- 
rate." 

At  length,  the  figure  was  drawn ;  then  the  mane, 
and  tail,  and  eyes,  and  Cousin  Guy  quietly  sur- 


THE    ARABIAN    HORSE.  29 


rendered  the  picture  to  Kenny,  who  triumphantly 
carried  it  to  his  father.  Mr.  Ellis  said  it  was  even 
better  than  he  expected,  and  that  he  had  no  doubt 
Cousin  Guy  could  learn  to  draw  quite  well  if  he 
would  only  practise.  The  picture  was  really  quite 
a  pretty  one.  Kenny  admired  especially  the  beau 
tiful  arching  neck,  and  asked  Cousin  Guy  to  give 
the  picture  to  him ;  but  Mr.  Ellis  advised  him  to 
keep  it,  as  it  was  the  first  he  had  ever  drawn ;  so 
Cousin  Guy  promised  to  draw  Kenny  another. 

"  In  fact,"  said  he,  "  the  next,  you  know,  will 
be  better." 

But  Kenny  declared  that  Cousin  Guy  could  not 
beat  that.  His  father,  he  said,  could  not  beat  it 
much. 

"But  can't  you  tell  me  a  story  about  your 
horse?"  continued  he.  "Father  is  going  to  tell 
me  one  about  the  balloon  he  drew." 

"  Yes ;  I  reckon  so.  I  know  a  very  pretty  little 
one  about  an  Arabian  horse.  I  read  it  in  my 
school  reader  when  I  was  a  boy." 

"Will  you  tell  me  now?"  , 

"  Not  now,  but  some  day  soon,  if  you  don't  ask 
me  too  often." 

"  I'm  afraid  you  might  forget  if  I  did  not  re 
mind  you." 

"  No ;  I  will  not  forget," 

Kenny  was  sometimes  a  little  troublesome,  teaz- 


30  IT    IS    A    PORTFOLIO. 


ing  when  he  wanted  to  go  any  where,  or  have  any 
thing;  and  Cousin  Guy,  to  break  him  of  this, 
would  never  give  him  any  thing  or  do  any  thing 
for  "him  in  return  for  it.  This  was  what  he 
meant  when  he  told  Kenny  that  he  would  tell  him 
the  story  soon,  if  he  did  not  ask  too  often.  Kenny 
understood  it  very  well. 

As  Cousin  Guy  started  up  stairs,  he  heard 
Kenny  ask  his  father  to  give  him  something  to 
put  all  his  pictures  in,  and  he  called  out : 

"  Kenny,  come  with  me  to  my  room,  and  I  will 
give  you  something. " 

"  O  !  thank  you ;  what  is  it  ?"  cried  Kenny,  as 
he  bounded  up  stairs.  "Is  it  a  box?  What  is 

it?" 

"  No,  it  is  not  a  box.     It  is  a  portfolio." 

"  What  is  a  portfolio  ?" 

"  Something  expressly  to  put  papers  in." 

"  O,  that  is  capital !" 

Cousin  Guy  opened  his  desk,  and  took  out  and 
handed  to  Kenny  something  which  looked  very 
much  like  a  large,  thin  book,  with  the  leaves  taken 
out. 

"  And  so  this  is  a  portfolio?"  said  Kenny. 

"  Yes ;  a  home-made  one." 

"  What  do  you  mean  by  that  ?  Did  you  make 
it?" 

"  No,  not  exactly ;  but  it  was  originally  made 


THE    OLD    SCISSORS    CASE.  31 


and  used  for  a  scissors  case.  It  has  on  it  now 
'  Superior  Scissors,  Manufactured  by  Joseph  Rogers 
and  Sons,  Cutlers  to  His  Majesty,  No.  6  Norfolk 
street,  Sheffield.'  A  hardware  merchant,  who  had 
sold  all  the  scissors  out  of  it,  gave  it  to  me,  and  I 
have  used  it  for  years  as  a  portfolio.  It  answers 
very  well.  You  first  put  in  your  papers,  and  then 
fold  over  it  this  piece  of  soft  leather,  and  then  shut 
the  lids,  and  the  papers  are  kept  very  safely  and 
smoothly." 

"O,  I  see;  it  does  beautifully.  Thank  you; 
thank  you." 

"I  have  something  else  here  for  you." 

"What  is  it?" 

Cousin  Guy  made  no  reply,  but  handed  him  a 
small  piece  of  paper,  out  of  which  a  piece  of  ir 
regular  shape  had  been  cut. 

"Why,  what  is  this?" 

"  Wait  till  night  and  I  will  show  you." 

"Till  night?" 

"  Yes ;  I  cannot  explain  it  to  you  very  well,  and 
I  cannot  show  you  until  it  is  dark,  and  the  gas  is 
lighted." 

Of  course,  Kenny  had  nothing  to  do  but  to  wait, 
though  he  felt  considerable  curiosity  and  impa 
tience  ;  so  he  carefully  deposited  the  curious  paper 
in  his  portfolio,  and  left  the  room. 

It  was  scarcely  dark  when  he  returned,  saying : 


32  A    WONDERFUL    FACE. 


"  Cousin  Guy,  it  is  dark  now,  and  the  gas  is 
turned  on,  so  you  can  show  me  this  paper.  Come 
down  to  the  library,  father  and  mother  are  there, 
and  want  to  see,  too." 

Although  Mr.  Ellis  lived  a  little  way  out  of  the 
city,  he  had  had  the  gas  pipes  brought  out  to  his 
house ;  and  in  the  cellar  there  was  a  cock  to  turn 
off  the  gas  from  coming  into,  the  house,  when  it 
was  not  being  used.  Every  evening  before  the 
gas  could  be  lighted  in  the  house,  it  was  necessary 
for  some  one  to  go  down  in  the  cellar,  and  "  turn 
on  the  gas."  This  was  what  Kenny  meant,  when 
he  said  "  the  gas  is  turned  on." 

He  and  Cousin  Guy  went  together  into  the  li 
brary,  and  found  the  gas  lighted,  and  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Ellis  reading.  They  both  stopped  to  see  what 
Cousin  Guy  had  to  show.  He  took  the  paper, 
and  held  it  a  short  distance  from  the  white  wall. 
Immediately,  Kenny  clapped  his  hands,  and  cried, 
"  Oh !  there  is  a  man's  face  on  the  wall !" 

Sure  enough,  the  light,  shining  through  the 
opening  cut  in  the  paper,  made  a  perfect  and 
beautiful  face.  It  seemed  very  strange,  too,  as 
the  cut  in  the  paper  was  not  the  shape  of  a  face 
at  all.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ellis  both  expressed  their 
surprise  at  this,  and  Mrs.  Ellis  remarked  upon  the 
sadness  of  the  countenance,  and  asked  what  it 
was. 


PICTURE    OF    THE    SAVIOUR.  35 


"  It  represents,"  said  he,  "  the  face  of  the  Sa 
viour — the  suffering  Saviour." 

"Yes,  I  thought  so,"  said  Mr.  Ellis;  "where 
did  you  get  it  ?  You  did  not  find  it  out  yourself, 
did  you  ?" 

"  Oh,  no !  it  was  invented,  I  believe,  by  a  monk. 
This  was  given  to  me  by  a  gentleman  when  I  was 
a  boy.  He  had  been  staying  at  our  house,  and, 
when  he  left,  he  gave  it  to  me,  telling  me  to  find 
out  for  myself  what  it  was." 

"  And  did  you  find  out  ?"  inquired  Kenny. 

"  Yes ;  after  a  while,  I  held  it  before  the  light, 
and  noticed  the  image,  and  then,  by  getting  it  just 
the  right  distance,  founds  that  it  made  a  perfect 
face.  I  at  once  thought  it  was  intended  for  the 
Saviour,  for  it  very  much  resembled  a  picture  of 
him  which  my  father  had.  After  a  while  the  gen 
tleman  came  back,  and,  hearing  that  I  had  found 
out  how  to  use  the  paper,  told  me  that  he  had 
brought  it  from  Europe,  and  that  it  had  been  in 
vented  by  a  monk.  Since  then,  I  have  given 
away  a  great  many  copies." 

All  this  while,  Kenny,  while  listening,  had  been 
holding  the  paper,  and  moving  it  different  dis 
tances  from  the  wall.  There  was  a  particular  dis 
tance  which  made  the  image  appear  just  right. 
When  the  paper  was  held  nearer  or  farther  off, 
the  image  was  confused  and  indistinct.  It  was 


36  KENNY    AND    HIS    PICTURE- 


quite  interesting  to  notice,  as  the  paper  was 
brought  slowly  into  the  right  position,  how  the 
features  of  the  face  gradually  appeared,  until  the 
picture  became  distinct  and  beautiful.  "When  all 
had  looked  at  it  enough,  Kenny  went  to  show  it  to 
Gustave,  who  thought  it  very  curious  indeed. 
Kenny,  then,  carefully  put  the  paper  in  his  port 
folio.  Frequently,  afterwards,  he  showed  it  to  his 
cousins  and  young  friends  who  came  to  see  him, 
though  he  could  not  very  well  exhibit  it  to  those 
who  were  not  there  at  night.  All  were  so  much 
interested  in  it  that  Cousin  Guy  was  frequently 
applied  to  for  copies,  which  he  easily  cut  out,  by 
laying  this  on  a  piece  of  paper,  and  following, 
with  the  point  of  a  penknife,  the  edges  of  the 
figure  cut  out. 


MR.    ELLIS    DRIVES    TO    TOWN.  37 


CHAPTER   II. 

AIR  NAVIGATION. 

A  FEW  days  after  the  scenes  described  in  the 
-*•-*•  last  chapter,  Mr.  Ellis  announced  at  the 
breakfast  table  that  he  was  presently  going  in  the 
carriage  to  town,  and  asked  Kenny  if  he  wanted 
to  go. 

"  Yes,  indeed,  I  do,"  said  Kenny. 

So  when  Gustave  drove  round  to  the  door,  Ken 
ny  was  there  waiting,  and  pretty  soon  he  and  his 
father  got  in,  and  went  into  the  city.  Though  it 
was  a  very  little  way  from  Mr.  Ellis's  to  the  edge 
of  the  city,  it  was  some  distance  to  the  centre, 
where  the  post-office  and  the  principal  stores  were, 
and  Mr.  Ellis  generally  rode  in,  in  the  carriage.  He 
usually  had  a  good  deal  of  business  to  attend  to, 
and  went  to  a  good  many  places.  When  he  was 
alone,  he  would  tie  Dave  at  some  post,  while  he 
left  the  carriage.  But  when  Kenny  was  along,  he 
would  sit  in  the  carriage  and  hold  the  reins,  and 
take  care  of  what  was  in  the  carriage.  Kenny 

456675 


38  KENNY    IN    THE    CITY. 

would  amuse  himself  by  looking  at  the  people 
passing.  There  were  so  many,  that  at  first  Kenny 
had  thought  that  they  must  be  going  to  some 
meeting ;  but  he  soon  found  out  that  it  was  always 
so.  Sometimes  when  he  had  to  sit  in  the  carriage 
a  long  time,  he  would  become  rather  impatient, 
and  even  alarmed,  lest. something  had  happened 
to  keep  his  father  from  coming.  But  he  seldom 
complained,  for  he  was  generally  so  glad  to  see 
his  father,  that  he  forgot  how  badly  he  had  felt ; 
besides,  he  knew  that  if  he  complained,  his  father 
would  not  bring  him,  and,  on  the  whole,  he  liked 
very  much  to  come. 

This  morning,  after  Mr.  Ellis  had  been  to  a  good 
many  places,  he  stopped  at  a  large  book  store,  and 
jumped  out,  and  commenced  tying  the  horse,  say 
ing,  as  he  did  so : 

"  Kenny,  you  may  get  out  here,  and  go  in  with 
me,  I  am  going  to  buy  something  for  you." 

As  they  went  in,  he  continued : 

"  I  want  to  get  you  some  drawing  materials." 

Kenny  was,  of  course,  delighted. 

When  the  store-keeper  came  forward,  bowing, 
and  asked  Mr.  Ellis  what  he  would  have,  he  asked 
to  look  at  some  pencils,  and  from  these  selected 
two.  He  explained  to  Kenny  that  one  of  these 
was  hard,  and  made  a  fine  mark,  and  was  intended 
for  drawing  outlines ;  while  the  other  was  soft,  and 


BUYING-    DRAWING    MATERIALS.         39 

made  a  coarse  mark,  and  was  for  filling  up  and 
shading.  Kenny  seemed  to  understand  very  well, 
especially  as  his  father  showed  him  the  difference 
by  drawing  a  little  for  him,  using  the  two  pencils 
in  the  ways  they  were  intended.  Then  Mr.  Ellis 
asked  for  drawing  paper,  and  the  gentleman 
showed  him  some  quite  thick  and  soft,  and  rather 
rough,  which  he  said  was  the  kind  generally  used. 
It  was  in  separate  sheets,  each  about  as  large  as  a 
page  of  letter  paper.  Mr.  Ellis  took  twenty-five 
of  these.  Then,  he  said : 

"  I  believe  this  is  all  that  is  needed  for  draw- 
ing." 

But  Kenny  suggested  india-rubber ;  "  to  rub 
out  mistakes,"  he  said.  So  Mr.  Ellis  bought  a 
piece  of  that,  too.  Then  the  gentleman,  who  was 
waiting  on  them,  took  out  of  a  drawer  a  square 
piece  of  board,  and  said : 

"  You  will  want  a  drawing  board,  will  you 
not?" 

Kenny  thought  his  portfolio  would  do  very 
well ;  but  his  father  said  the  drawing-board  was 
hard  and  firm,  and  would  do  better,  and  he  want 
ed  him  to  have  all  that  would  be  of  any  use  to 
him  ;  besides,  the  board  did  not  cost  much.  The 
store-keeper  then  asked  if  they  did  not  want  cards, 
with  pictures,  to  be  copied.  But  Mr.  Ellis  said 
that  he  would  get  them  after  a  while.  At  present, 


40  MATERIALS    FOR    A    BALLOON. 

he  did  not  'want  Kenny  to  take  regular  lessons, 
but  only  to  have  all  the  materials,  so  that  he  could 
draw  whatever  he  wanted. 

Mr.  Ellis  then  asked  for  tissue  paper. 

"  What  kind  of  paper  is  that  ?"  inquired  Kenny. 

"  "Wait  and  you  will  see,"  said  his  father. 

In  a  moment,  the  store-keeper  handed  from  a 
drawer  a  good  many  large  sheets  of  very  thin 
paper.  The  sheets  were  different  colors — white, 
pink,  yellow,  etc.  Mr.  Ellis  said  he  would  take 
ten  sheets.  Kenny  was  very  anxious  to  know 
what  they  were  for.  His  father  told  him  they 
were  for  him,  but  he  must  wait  to  see  what  they 
were  for  till  they  got  home.  Kenny  said  he  knew 
they  were  not  for  drawing ;  they  were  too  thin  for 
that ;  besides  most  of  the  sheets  were  not  the  right 
color  for  drawing.  Mr.  Ellis  only  said,  "  "Wait  and 
you  will  see,"  and  asked  the  store-keeper  for  a 
large  sponge,  which  he  got  and  put  with  the  other 
things.  He  also  asked  for  some  wire,  but  the 
gentleman  said  they  had  no  wire.  Kenny's  curi 
osity  was  now  very  much  excited ;  and  he  amused 
his  father,  and  the  store-keeper,  and  other  persons 
in  the  store,  by  saying : 

"I  wish  I  knew,  I  wish  I  knew;  I  cannot 
guess.'' 

As  they  wanted  nothing  more,  all  the  tilings 
which  they  had  bought  were  put  into  a  bundle. 


THE    SECKET  41 

Kenny  was  much  interested  in  seeing  this  done. 
The  gentleman  first  laid  the  drawing-board  on  the 
paper  in  which  he  was  going  to  wrap  the  things 
up.  On  that  he  laid  the  tissue  paper,  folded  to  a 
suitable  size ;  then  the  drawing  paper,  on  the  top 
of  which  he  placed  the  pencils,  the  sponge,  and 
the  india-rubber.  He  folded  the  wrapping-paper 
over  it  all,  and  tied  it  with  twine,  which  he  cut 
off  with  a  pair  of  scissors.  It  made  quite  a  neat 
bundle.  Mr.  Ellis  handed  a  gold  piece  in  pay 
ment,  and  when  he  had  received  some  silver  in 
change,  he  told  Kenny  to  take  the  bundle  and 
come  on.  Kenny  did  so,  thinking  it  was  very 
good  in  his  father  to  take  so  much  trouble,  and 
spend  so  much  money  for  him,  and  wondering 
what  the  tissue  paper,  and  sponge,  and  wire  could 
be  for.  When  they  got  into  the  carriage,  he  said : 

"  Now,  I  suppose,  we  will  go  straight  home,  and 
I  will  soon  find  out  your  secret." 

"No,  not  quite  yet;  you  know  I  have  to  buy 
some  wire,  and  besides,  I  have  to  get  some  other 
things  for  you." 

" For  me,  sir?" 

"  Yes ;  for  you.  Here,  we  will  stop  at  this  post, 
and  tie  Dave ;  I  want  to  go  into  both  of  these 
stores." 

Accordingly,  they  went  first  into  a  hardware 
store,  where  Mr.  Ellis  bought  some  wire,  and  then 
4* 


42  RETURN    HOME. 

into  an  apothecary's  store,  where  he  bought  a  little 
vial  of  liquid  gum  arabic,  with  a  brush  extending 
through  the  stopper,  the  handle  above,  and  the 
hair  dipping  into  the  liquid  ;  also  some  spirits  of 
wine.  This  was  in  the  cellar  in  a  barrel.  The 
young  man  who  went  for  it,  said  they  kept  it  down 
there,  as  it  was  dangerous,  being  liable  to  take 
fire.  Kenny  went  down  with  him,  and  saw  him 
turn  a  spigot,  and  let  the  liquid  run  into  a  tin 
measure,  and  then,  with  a  funnel,  pour  it  into  a 
black  bottle  which  he  had  provided  for  the  pur 
pose. 

When  they  got  into  the  carriage  this  time,  Mr. 
Ellis  said  he  had  made  all  his  purchases ;  so  they 
drove  straight  home.  Kenny  ran  to  Cousin  Guy 
to  carry  him  his  letters  and  papers  from  the  post- 
office,  and  to  show  him  the  drawing  materials,  and 
to  tell  him  of  the  mysterious  purchases.  But  din 
ner  was  nearly  ready,  and  Mr.  Ellis  said  after  that 
the  mystery  would  be  explained. 

Kenny  could  hardly  finish  his  dessert,  for  curi 
osity  and  guessing.  But,  at  last,  all  were  done 
eating;  and  Mr.  Ellis  took  the  tissue  paper,  and 
the  wire,  and  the  sponge,  and  the  gum  arabic,  and 
the  bottle  of  spirits  of  wine,  and,  accompanied  by 
Kenny  and  Cousin  Guy,  went  to  the  shop.  The 
shop  was  over  the  stable.  The  upper  part  of  the 
stable  was  divided  into  two  rooms ;  one  of  them 


GUSTAVE'S  WORK-SHOP.  43* 

•was  used  to  keep  the  hay  for  the  horse  and  cow  ; 
the  other  was  fitted  up  with  a  work-bench,  and 
was  used  as  a  work-shop.  Here  Gustave  worked 
on  rainy  days,  doing  odd  jobs,  such  as  putting 
panes  of  glass  into  windows,  making  flower  frames, 
and  mending  his  garden  tools.  At  night,  too, 
during  the  winter,  when  the  nights  were  long,  he 
would  often  work  in  the  shop,  making  things  for 
himself  and  for  his  friends.  He  had  made  pic 
ture  frames  for  his  own  room,  and  had  made  sev 
eral  little  presents  for  Kenny.  In  fact,  he  was  al 
most  always  making  some  ingenious  thing,  which, 
when  he  was  not  working  at  it,  he  kept  carefully 
in  a  large  tool-chest,  which  was  in  the  shop. 
Pretty  soon  after  they  came  into  the  shop,  Gus 
tave  came  up,  too,  looking  very  much  pleased. 

Mr.  Ellis  said : 

"  Kenny,  I  promised  you  should  have  a  balloon, 
and  the  things  I  bought  you  this  morning  are  to 
make  it  with,  and  Gustave  is  ready  to  begin  now, 
and  you  may  stay  and  see  him." 

"  Oh !  that  is  splendid.     Won't  you  stay,  too  ?" 

u  No,  I  must  go  in  presently  ;  but  when  the  bal 
loon  is  done,  we  will  all  come  and  see  it  go  up." 

So,  in  a  moment,  before  Gnstave  had  fairly  be 
gun,  Mr.  Ellis  left,  and  presently  Cousin  Guy  fol 
lowed,  too,  saying  that  he  was  too  busy  to  remain 
any  longer. 


»  44  MAKING    A    BALLOON. 


"  Do  you  think  you  will  finish  it  this  afternoon, 
Gustave  ?"  said  Kenny. 

"  Yes  ;  but  I  don't  know  whether  the  paste  will 
be  dry  enough  to  send  it  up  this  afternoon." 

"  Gustave,  what  is  that  stuff  in  the  black  bottle 
for?" 

"  That  is  to  help  make  it  go  up." 

"  How  does  it  do  it  ?" 

"You  must  wait  and  see,  and  then  get  your 
father  to  explain  it  to  you." 

"  "Well,  you  must  take  care  of  the  black  bottle. 
The  man  who  sold  it  to  us  said  it  was  easy  to  take 
fire;  and  if  it  should  catch  fire  here,  with  all 
Dave's  hay  in  the  next  room,  it  would  bo  dread 
ful." 

Meanwhile,  Gustave  had  taken  seven  of  the 
sheets  of  tissue  paper,  'and,  spreading  them  out, 
had  laid  them  smoothly  in  a  pile,  so  that,  being 
the  same  size,  the  edges  of  all  corresponded.  He 
now  proceeded,  with  a  large  pair  of  shears,  to  cut 
them  into  the  proper  shape,  which  was  something 
like  that  of  a  kite.  Kenny  thought  it  would  have 
been  better  to  cut  each  sheet  separately,  but  Gus 
tave  told  him  that,  by  cutting  all  together,  he  got 
them  all  of  exactly  the  same  size  and  shape.  Be 
sides,  the  paper  was  so  thin,  that  the  large  shears 
easily  cut  through  several  sheets  at  once.  Kenny 
inquired  why  he  did  not  use  all  the  sheets. 


DIFFERENT    KINDS    OF    BALLOONS.      45 

"  Because,"  said  Gustave,  "  these  sheets  are  for 
the  sides  of  the  balloon,  and,  if  I  took  more,  it 
would  be  too  large  for  its  height.     Then,  too,  it 
will  take  one  sheet  to  make  the  cap." 
"  I  suppose  that  is  the  top." 
"  Yes,  these  seven  sheets  are  the  sides,  like  the 
staves  of  a  barrel,  and  then  I  shall  cut  out  a  round 
piece  for  the  top.     The  other  two  sheets  I  shall 
keep,  in  case  of  a  tear  in  the  balloon,  so  that  I  can 
mend  it." 

"  Isn't  there  to  be  a  bottom  ?" 
"  No,  it  will  be  open  at  the  bottom." 
"  I  should  think,  then,  the  light  gas  would  lose 
out,  and  the  balloon  would  not  go  up.     Father  told 
me  the  other  day  that  the  balloon  must  be  per 
fectly  tight,  that  even  a  pin-hole  would  spoil  it." 

"This  is  a  different  sort  of  balloon,  and  is  not 
intended  to  go  so  long,  nor  to  carry  up  any 
weight;  the  gas  will  not  escape  very  fast  from 
below,  but  a  small  hole  in  the  upper  part  would 
spoil  it." 

"  How  far  will  this  travel  ?" 
"  It  depends  on  how  much  gas  you  give  it." 
"  How  far  can  you  possibly  make  it  go  ?" 
"  I  reckon  we  can  fix  it  to  stay  up  an  hour,  and 
in  that  time  it  may  travel  ten  miles." 

Meanwhile,  Gustave  had  pasted  the  seven  sheets 
together.  While  the  paste  was  drying,  he  pro- 


4:6  HARD    WORDS. 

ceeded  to  cut  off  two  pieces  of  wire.  He  measured 
the  circumference  of  the  balloon,  and  found  it  just 
six  feet.  Accordingly,  he  cut  a  piece  of  wire  for 
a  sort  of  hoop  to  the  bottom  of  the  balloon,  a  little 
over  six  feet,  allowing  a  little  for  joining  the  ends 
together.  He  then  joined  the  ends  by  making  a 
loop  with  the  pincers  on  one  end,  and  bending  the 
other  end  into  the  shape  of  a  hook,  which  he  put 
into  the  loop,  and  then  bent  over,  so  that  it  would 
not  come  out,  and  he  made  this  fastening  strong, 
by  laying  it  upon  an  anvil,  and  beating  it  with  a 
hammer.  He  then  cut  another  piece  of  wire  a 
little  more  than  two  feet  long.  Kenny  asked  him 
how  he  knew  the  exact  length  without  measuring. 
He  answered,  that  he  wanted  this  piece  to  go 
right  across  the  middle  of  the  hoop,  and  that  he 
knew  that  this,  being  the  diameter,  must  be  about 
one-third  as  long  as  the  hoop,  which  was  the  cir 
cumference. 

"  Oh !  what  hard  words,"  exclaimed  Kenny. 

Gustave  then  stuck  this  piece  of  wire  through 
the  sponge,  and  fastened  it  across  the  hoop  by 
bending  the  ends  over,  and  tightening  them  with 
the  pincers.  Then  he  proceeded  to  fasten  on  the 
hoop  to  the  bottom  of  the  balloon,  which  he  did 
by  turning  the  edges  of  the  paper  over  the  wire, 
and  pasting  them  so.  After  this  was  done,  he  cut 
out  the  cap,  and  pasted  it  on,  and  then,  standing 


THE    BALLOON    FINISHED.  47 

upon  the  bench,  he  held  out  the  balloon,  bottom 
upward,  by  the  cross-wire,  saying : 

"  It  is  all  done." 

"  And  now  we  can  go  and  set  it  right  up,  can't 
we?" 

"IsTo,  it  will  take  some  time  for  it  to  dry 
thoroughly,  and  then  it  will  be  too  late ;  so  I 
think  you  had  better  wait  till  to-morrow,  and,  by 
that  time,  you  can  make  grand  preparations." 

Accordingly,  Gustave  hung  the  balloon,  bot 
tom  upwards,  from  the  ceiling.  It  was  nearly  as 
tall  as  a  man,  and  at  the  bottom  and  top  about  as 
large  and  round  as  a  barrel,  while  in  the  middle 
it  swelled  out  to  a  larger  size.  Gustave  said  he 
had  frequently  made  balloons  in"  Germany,  but 
that  this  was  larger  than  any  he  had  ever  made 
before.  As  they  went  out,  he  very  carefully  lock 
ed  the  door. 

At  supper,  Kenny  told  his  father  that  the  bal 
loon  was  done,  and  all  ready  to  go  up,  and  gave 
him  a  very  spirited  description  of  the  way  in 
which  it  was  made. 

"  Now,  Kenny,"  said  Cousin  Guy,  "  you  can 
either  tie  a  string  to  your  balloon,  and  keep  it 
to  send  up  many  times;  or  you  can  just  let  it 
sail  away,  and,  perhaps,  never  see  or  hear  of  it 
again." 

"I  want,"  replied  Kenny,  "  to  see  it  sail  as  high 


48         BEST    WAY    OF    SENDING    IT    UP. 

and  as  far  as  possible,  even  if  I  do  never  see  or 
hear  of  it  any  more." 

"  You  can  do  both,"  suggested  his  father ;  "  you 
can  first  send  it  up  a  few  times  for  a  short  dis 
tance,  and  then  you  can  let  it  go  where  it  pleases, 
or  rather  where  the  winds  please." 

"  I  will  do  that ;  and  do  you  think  when  I  let  it 
go,  I  shall  ever  get  it  again,  or  see  it  again  ?" 

"  You,  perhaps,  may,  by  watching  the  direction 
in  which  it  goes,  find  it  when  it  comes  down ;  but 
if  you  do,  it  will  probably  be  spoilt.  In  fact,  I 
think  when  you  let  it  go,  you  had  better  give  it 
up." 

Here  Cousin  Guy  suggested  that  it  would  be 
well  to  send  up  with  the  balloon,  a  note,  addressed 
to  the  finder,  giving  information  as  to  the  owner. 

"  Do  you  think,  then,  that  if  any  one  found  it, 
lie  would  bring  it  back  ?" 

"  He  might  do  so ;  but  even  if  he  did  not,  it 
would  be  pleasant  for  you  to  think  that  you  had 
sent  a  letter  to  some  unknown  person.  You  might, 
perhaps,  hear  of  it  afterwards." 

"  That  would  be  pleasant,  Cousin  Guy ;  won't 
you  write  something  for  me  ?" 

Cousin  Guy  readily  consented,  and  promised 
that  something  suitable  should  be  ready  in  time. 

The  next  morning  was  agreed  upon  for  sending 
up  the  balloon.  The  day  was  calm  and  cloudless. 


COUSIN    GUY    WRITES    A    LETTER.        49 

The  family  all  assembled  in  a  part  of  the  lawn 
wh'ere  there  were  few  trees,  and  those  quite  small 
ones.  Gustave  came  bringing  the  balloon  very 
carefully,  and  Kenny  followed  him,  with  a  bottle 
and  a  ball  of  twine  in  his  hands. 

"Now,  Cousin  Guy,"  said  he,  "have  you  got 
the  letter  ready  ?" 

Cousin  Guy  made  no  reply,  but  produced  a 
paper,  and  read  from  it : 

"HIGHFLIER— made  by  GUSTAVE  BURGER,  Balti 
more,  September  Tth,  185 — ,  A.  D. 

"  Highflier,  speed  over  land  and  sea, 
And  when  you  have  done,  come  back  to  me. 

"  KENNY  ELLIS. 
"  '  Sic  transit  gloria  mundL'  " 

I 

Kenny  listened  with  the  greatest  interest,  and 
when  Cousin  Guy  stopped,  said  : 

"  That  will  do  first-rate — that  is  poetry,  isn't  it  ?" 
"Not  exactly,  it  is  rhyme,  which  is  just  as 
good." 

"  But,   Cousin  Guy,   who    named  it   '  High 
flier?'" 

"  Gustave  and  I  named  it  this  morning  ;  I 
found  you  had  not  given  it  any  name,  and  I 
thought  it  ought  to  have  one ;  but  if  you  do  not 
5 


50  HIGHFLIER. 

like  '  Highflier'  we  can  change  it  now.  You 
have  the  right  to  give  your  balloon  any  name  J^ou 
choose." 

"  Oh  I  like  it  very  much,  and  thank  you  for 
giving  it  that  name." 

Mr.  Ellis  also  said  that  he  thought  it  a  very 
suitable  one,  and  Mrs.  Ellis  said  she  thought  it 
suitable  too,  if  only  the  balloon  really  flew  high, 
as  she  believed  it  would. 

"  But,  Cousin  Guy,"  suggested  Kenny,  "  oughtn't 
the  balloon  to  have  the  name  on  it  ?" 

Gustave  said  the  tissue  paper  was  too  thin  to 
write  on  ;  but  Cousin  Guy  said  he  would  write  it 
on  a  piece  of  white  paper  which  could  be  pasted 
on.  Accordingly,  he  wrote  in  large  handsome 
letter^,  the  name  "  Highflier  "  on  a  piece  of  white 
paper,  and  Gustave  pasted  it  on  a  part  of  the 
balloon  which  was  made  of  white  paper.  It  look 
ed  very  well  indeed. 

"  Now,"  said  Kenny,  "  where  will  you  put  this 
letter,  and  how  will  you  fasten  it  on  ?" 

Gustave  said  he  would  fasten  it  to  the  wire, 
since  that  would  remain,  even  of  all  the  rest  should 
be  destroyed.  Accordingly  he  carefully  folded 
the  letter,  and  boring  two  holes  through  it,  and 
running  a  piece  of  twine  through  these  holes,  tied 
it  firmly  to  the  cross  wire. 

"  And  now,"  said  he,  "  we  are  nearly  ready  to 


THE    BALLOON    ASCENDS.  51 


let  'Highflier,'  fly.  I  will  just  tie  this  twine 
so  that  we  can  call  '  Highflier '  back." 

So  he  cut  off  a  piece  of  string,  and  tied  it  to 
the  two  ends  of  the  cross  wire.  The  string  was  so 
long  as  to  hang  considerably  below  the  wire.  To 
the  middle  of  this  string,  he  tied  one  end  of  the 
roll  of  twine.  Gus£ave  said  it  was  very  strong, 
and  would  hold  the  balloon.  He  now  asked 
Cousin  Guy  and  Mr.  Ellis  to  catch  hold  of  the 
upper  part  of  the  balloon  and  hold  it  up.  When 
they  did  so,  he  poured  spirits  of  wine  out  of  the 
bottle  on  the  sponge.  Then  drawing  a  box  of 
matches  from  his  pocket,  he  lighted  one  and 
touched  it  to  the  sponge.  Immediately  the  spirits 
of  wine,  which  filled  all  the  pores,  took  fire,  and 
the  sponge  was  surrounded  by  a  beautiful  blue 
flame.  Presently  Kenny  exclaimed  : 

"  O  !  it  is  filling." 

Sure  enough  the  balloon  began  to  expand. 
Gustave  said  that  Mr.  Ellis  and  Mr.  Meridett  need 
not  hold  it  any  longer,  as  the  gas  would  keep  it 
upright :  and  when  they  let  go,  he  took  hold  of 
the  string.  In  a  moment  more,  the  balloon  was 
all  full,  and  plump,  and  .as  it  moved  back  and 
forth,  seemed  to  be  pulling  at  the  string,  very 
anxious  to  be  gone.  At  last  Gustave  said  it  was 
time  to  let  the  balloon  go.  So,  unrolling  the  string, 
he  let  it  go,  keeping  hold  of  the  ball.  Away 


62  MESSENGERS. 


went  the  balloon,  almost  straight  up.  It  cleared 
the  small  trees,  and  was  soon  above  the  tops  of  the 
highest  ones.  No  one  spoke,  but  all,  with  upturn 
ed  eyes  and  breathless  attention,  watched  its 
course.  It  grew  smaller  and  smaller,  but  could 
still  be  very  plainly  seen.  At  length  the  string 
was  all  pulled  out,  and  Gustave  held  it  by  the  end. 
While  he  did  so  he  took  out  of  his  pocket  a  little 
piece  of  paper,  cut  in  the  shape  of  a  star,  and  with 
a  hole  in  it.  He  put  this  on  the  string,  and  gave 
it  a  push,  and  a  blow  with  his  breath,  and  imme 
diately  it  began  to  run  up  the  string  towards  the 
balloon. 

"  Why,  Gustave,  what  is  that  ?"  inquired  Mrs. 
Ellis.  "  It  is  called  a  messenger.  Boj^  generally 
send  them  up  on  their  kite  strings.  I  have  fre 
quently  done  it  myself." 

"  Did  you  ever  send  one  up  on  a  balloon  string  ?" 
inquired  Kenny. 

"  No,  I  never  held  a  balloon  by  a  string  before ; 
I  always  let  it  go,  as  you  will  do  presently." 

Pretty  soon  Gustave  began  to  draw  the  string, 
and  slowly  pull  the  balloon  down.  Kenny  asked 
why  he  did  that. 

"  Because,"  said  he,  "  if  I  wait  until  all  the  gas 
is  exhausted,  the  balloon  will  fall,  and  may  get 
injured ;  but  now  I  can  bring  it  slowly  down  to 
me." 


THE  BALLOON'S  FIRST  VOYAGE.     53 

"  Is  the  gas  nearly  gone  ?" 

"  Yes,  I  did  not  pour  on  much  spirits  of  wine, 
as  we  only  wanted  a  short  excursion ;  when  we 
let  it  go,  I  shall  fill  the  sponge  with  it." 

All  this  time  he  was  drawing  the  balloon  gently 
but  steadily  towards  him.  At  last  it  was  in  reach 
of  him,  and  he  fastened  the  string  to  a  large  stone, 
and  extinguished  the  flame  on  the  sponge. 

"  The  first  voyage  was  very  successful,"  said" 
Cousin  Guy." 

"  "Why  do  you  call  it  a  voyage  f"  said  Kenny ; 
"  I  thought  a  voyage  was  made  in  the  ocean." 

"  Well,  this  was  made  in  the  air,  which  is,  in 
some  respects,  like  the  ocean.  The  air  is  often 
called  so.  Balloon  sailing  might  very  well  be 
called  '  Aerial  Navigation '  or  '  Air  Navigation.' " 

"  Well,"  said  Gustave,  "  will  you  have  the  last 
voyage  now  or  wait  ?" 

"  Now,"  said  Kenny. 

"  And  shall  we  let  it  go  this  time  ?" 

"  Yes,  let  it  go." 

So  Gustave  poured  spirits  of  wine  on  the  sponge 
until  it  would  hold  no  more,  but  dripped  off  to 
the  ground.  He  then  lighted  it  as  before,  and  the 
balloon,  which  had  just  begun  to  shrink,  expanded 
to  its  full  size,  and  swung  back  and  forth,  as  if 
impatient  to  be  gone.  Kenny  and  all  seemed  to 
feel  much  more  enthusiasm  than  before,  knowing 
5* 


64:   THREE  CHEERS  FOR  HIGHFLIER! 


that  this  was  no  trial  trip,  but  that  the  balloon 
was  now  going  away  off,  and  probably  to  return 
no  more. 

"Now,  Kenny,"  said  Gustave,  "Highflier  is 
all  ready  to  be  off ;  as  soon  as  you  give  the  word, 
I  will  cut  the  string ;"  and  as  he  spoke,  he  drew 
from  his  pocket  a  pair  of  scissors,  and  held  them 
open  right  by  the  string.  Kenny  straightened 
himself  up,  and  shouted : 

"  Let  Highflier  go." 

In  a  moment,  Gustave  had  clipped  the  string, 
and  away  went  the  balloon,  soaring  swift  and 
graceful  as  a  lark  towards  the  cloudless  sky.  All 
gazed  at  it  with  earnest  attention,  and  Cousin  Guy, 
taking  off  his  hat,  cried : 

"Three  cheers  for  Highflier!" 

Suiting  the  action  to  the  word,  he  waved  his  hat 
three  times,  and  with  each  wave  shouted,,  at  the 
top  of  his  voice : 

"  Huzza  for  Highflier !" 

Kenny  did  not  know  exactly  what  was  meant 
by  "  three  cheers,"  but  he  fully  sympathized  with 
Cousin  Guy's  enthusiasm,  and  accordingly  he 
waved  and  shouted  with  all  his  might.  Up  to  this 
moment  the  balloon  had  gone  up,  as  before,  in  a 
nearly  perpendicular  direction.  Now,  a  gentle 
breeze  sprung  up,  and  wafted  it  a  little  to  one 
side. 


A    SPY-GLASS.  55 


"  I  am  glad,"  said  Mr.  Ellis,  "  that  it  is  going  in 
that  direction." 

"  Why  ?"  inquired  Kenny. 

"  Because  that  is  away  from  the  city  and  from 
the  water,  and  it  is,  consequently,  more  likely  to 
descend  in  safety." 

"While  he  spoke,  Gustave,  who  had  continued  to 
watch  the  balloon,  now  started  off  in  the  direction 
in  which  it  was  going,  saying,  as  he  did  so : 

"I'll  follow  it;  I'll  bring  it  back  to  you  if  I 
can." 

It  was  now  getting  to  be  quite  small,  and  Kenny 
said,  rather  mournfully : 

"I  cannot  see  it  much  longer,"  when  his  father 
said: 

"  O  !  Kenny,  I  will  get  my  spy-glass,"  and  ran 
after  it. 

He  brought  it,  and,  fixing  the  glass,  looked 
through  it  at  the  balloon,  and  then  gave  it  to  Kenny, 
helping  him  to  get  it  into  the  right  position.  As 
soon  as  he  had  done  so,  and  Kenny  got  a  sight  of 
the  balloon,  he  exclaimed : 

"  O,  how  near  it  seems !  I  can  see  the  fire ;  it 
is  burning  yet!  and  the  balloon,  O,  how  bright 
and  pretty  I" 

The  rest  looked  also,  and  admired  it  much. 
Then  Mrs.  Ellis  said  she  must  go  in  and  take 
Frank.  Cousin  Guy,  too,  folio  wed,,  say  ing: 


56  MR.    ELLIS'S    EXPLANATION. 


"  Though  lost  to  sight,  to  memory  dear." 

Kenny  said  it  was  not  lost  to  sight,  and  that  he 
and  his  father  would  stay  as  long  as  they  could 
see  the  balloon.  They  looked  at  it  for  a  long  time ; 
but  at  last,  when  they  had  waited  for  some  time, 
and  looking,  could  not  find  it  any  more,  they 
walked  into  the  study.  Mr.  Ellis  then  explained 
to  Kenny  how  it  went  up.  He  told  him  that  when 
the  spirits  of  wine  burned,  a  light  gas  was  made, 
which  drove  out  all  the  air,  and  that  this,  making 
the  balloon  lighter  than  air,  it  rose,  j  ust  as  a  cork, 
or  any  light  substance,  rose  in  water.  He  also 
told  Kenny  the  promised  story  about  a  balloon, 
and  then  asked  him  to  go  and  play,  as  he  had  some 
important  letters  to  write.  Kenny  went  to  the 
nursery,  and  spent  a  very  pleasant  morning,  talk 
ing  wi<h  his  mother,  and  helping  her  to  take  care 
of  Frank. 

A  little  while  before  dinner,  he  said  that  he  had 
not  seen  Cousin  Guy  since  the  balloon  went  up, 
and  that  he  would  go  and  make  him  a  visit.  His 
mother  said  he  might  go  and  tap  at  the  door,  but 
that  if  Cousin  Guy  was  busy,  he  must  come  right 
away.  Kenny  proceeded  to  his  room,  and  knock 
ed  lightly  at  the  door.  Cousin  Guy  knew  pretty 
well  from  the  step  and  the  knock  who  it  was,  so 
he  called  out : 

"  Who  is  there  ?" 


STORY    OF    AN    ARABIAN    HORSE.  57 


"Kenny." 

"  Come  in,  Kenny." 

"Are  you  very  busy,  Cousin  Guy?" 

"  No,  Kenny ;  I  have  been  very  busy,  but  now  I 
am  tired  of  work,  and  am  very  glad  to  see  you." 

""Work!  have  you  been  working ?  I  don't  see 
any  tools." 

"  I  have  been  studying :  that  is  sometimes  the 
hardest  kind  of  work.  These  books,  this  pen  and 
ink,  and  paper  are  my  tools." 

"  Ah  !  I  understand.  "Well,  what  will  you  do 
for  me  ?" 

"  Any  thing  I  can.     What  shall  I  do  ?" 

"I  would  like  to  ask  you  for  that  story  you 
promised  me  about  an  Arabian  horse — if  it  would 
not  be  teazing  you." 

"  Oh,  yes,  I  will  tell  you  that  now.  Certainly, 
it  is  not  teazing  to  ask  me  for  jthe  story,  when  I 
ask  you  what  you  will  have." 

Cousin  Guy  then  proceeded  as  follows  : 

"Perhaps  you  know  that  the  Arabs  have  the 
finest,  and  fastest,  and  most  intelligent  horses  in 
the  world." 

Kenny  nodded  assent. 

""Well,"  continued  Cousin  Guy,  "the  Arabs 
lead  a  very  roving  life ;  they  are  always  going  from 
one  place  to  another;  so,  of  course,  they  value 
their  fine  horses  very  much.  They  feel  attached 


58  ENGLISH    OFFICER    AND    ARAB. 


to  them  almost  as  a  man  does  to  a  friend — feed 
them  out  of  their  own  hands,  have  them  in  the 
same  tent  with  themselves,  and  never  sell  them, 
except  for  very  large  sums ;  and  then  only  when 
they  are  in  great  need  of  money.  There  was  once 
an  Arab,  who  was  the  owner  of  a  beautiful  mare. 
She  was  very  fleet  and  spirited,  and  yet  so  gentle 
to  her  master,  that  she  would  stop,  in  the  quickest 
gallop,  at  a  word  from  him,  and;  when  grazing, 
would  come  at  his  call,  and  arch  her  graceful 
neck,  and  lick  his  hand  like  a  dog.  You  may 
well  suppose  that  he  prized  her  very  much.  But 
he  was  very  poor.  lie  used  frequently  to  ride  in 
sight  of  an  English  encampment,  and  one  of  the 
officers  became  very  anxious  to  become  the  pos 
sessor  of  so  valuable  an  animal.  Accordingly,  he 
offered  a  large  sum  for  her,  supposing  that  he 
would  certainly  succeed  in  securing  her.  But  the 
Arab  declared  that  he  would  not  sell  his  darling 
mare.  Thus,  day  after  day,  the  officer  would  try 
to  tempt  him  with  the  offer  and  the  sight  of  gold ; 
but  he  would  refuse  to  part  with  his  mare,  and,  at 
the  end  of  each  interview,  he  would  gallop  away. 
At  last,  however,  he  became  very  poor,  he,  and 
his  wife,  and  children  were  suffering  for  necessary 
food — he  was  not  able  to  give  his  favorite  mare 
even  the  scanty  supplies  that  she  needed.  So  he 
reluctantly  determined  that  he  must  accept  the 


AEAB    AND    HIS    HORSE.  59 


proposition  of  the  English  officer.  He  rode,  with 
a  heavy  heart,  to  the  camp,  and  informed  the 
officer  that  he  had  brought  the  mare.  While  the 
gold  was  being  counted  out,  he  stood  stroking  her 
face,  and  talking  to  her  as  to  a  person ;  while  she, 
on  her  part,  put  her  nose  affectionately  into  his 
bosom  and  whinnied,  as  if  she  understood  it  all. 
Finally,  the  money  was  counted,  and  put  into  a 
bag,  and  the  officer  was  just  about  to  take  the 
bridle,  when  the  Arab  said  he  must  mount  his 
mare  once  more.  He  did  «o,  and  rode  a  short  dis 
tance,  then,  turning,  he  declared  that,  being  very 
poor,  he  had  determined  to  sell  his  mare,  in  order 
to  get  bread;  but  now  he  found  that  he  could 
not  part  with  her,  and,  having  said  these  words, 
he  made  her  a  signal,  and  she  sprung  off,  and,  in 
a  moment,  had  borne  him  out  of  sight." 

Here  Cousin  Guy  paused.  Kenny,  who  had 
listened  with  deep  interest,  said : 

"  Is  that  the  end,  Cousin  ?" 

"  Yes,  that  is  all." 

"  What  a  beautiful  story  I  but,  Cousin  Guy,  I 
would  like  so  much  to  know  what  became  of  the 
man  and  his  mare.  Do  you  know  2" 

"  I  never  heard  that ,  but  I  feel  sure  that  they 
got  on  some  how ;  he  must  have  been  a  noble 
fellow  not  to  sell  his  beloved  mare,  notwithstand 
ing  he  was  so  poor." 


60  KENNY    GOES    TO    MEETING. 


"  Yes,  indeed ;  I  hope  he  got  some  money  to  feed 
himself  and  her." 

Here  the  dinner  bell  rang,  and  as  they  came 
down,  they  met  Gustave  at  the  door. 

"  Ho,"  said  Kenny,  "  there's  Gustave." 

Gustave  came  forward,  looking  very  tired,  and, 
in  reply  to  their  inquiries,  said  that  he  had  run 
and  walked  very  fast  for  some  distance,  keeping 
the  balloon  in  sight ;  but  at  last  he  could  see  it  no 
longer ;  that  then  he  still  kept  on,  in  what  he 
supposed  was  the  direction,  hoping  to  see  it  as  it 
came  down,  but  that,  after  going  and  waiting  for 
some  time,  he  came  back. 

"  So  that's  the  end  of  Highflier,"  said  Kenny. 

"  Yes,  most  likely,"  replied  Cousin  Guy.  "  You 
had  better  trouble  yourself  no  more  about  "  High 
flier,"  but  amuse  yourself  with  other  things.  Still 
you  may  find  it  again." 

All  this  was  on  Friday.  On  Sabbath  Kenny 
went  to  meeting,  and  as  usual  indulged  in  a  nap, 
laying  his  head  on  his  father's  knee.  He,  however, 
waked  up  before  the  sermon  was  done,  and  in 
time  to  hear  something  which  very  much  interest 
ed  him.  His  eyes  brightened,  and  he  almost 
laughed  as  he  heard  his  cousin  describe  a  balloon 
becoming  full  of  light  air,  and  pulling  at  the 
string,  as  if  it  longed  to  sail  up  to  the  sky.  After 
they  reached  home,  as  Cousin  Guy  was  lying  on 


ME.  MERIDETT'S  SERMON.  61 

the  lounge  in  the  study,  Kenny  came  up   and 
said: 

"  Cousin,  you  preached  an  elegant  sermon  to- 
day." 

"  Ah,  then  you  didn't  go  to  sleep  ?  I  thought 
you  did." 

"  Yes,  I  went  to  sleep ;  but  you  see  I  did  not 
sleep  all  the  time.  I  waked  in  time  to  hear  what 
you  said  about  the  balloon.  I  listened  to  that.  I 
understood  that.  I  liked  it  very  much." 

"  Well,  what  did  I  say,  besides  about  the  bal 
loon?"  Did  I  just  describe  how  a  balloon  does? 
That  would  be  very  funny  preaching." 

Kenny  stood  still  and  said  nothing. 

"  Why,  Kenny,"  said  Mr.  Ellis,  "  you  did  un 
derstand  what  Mr.  Meridett  said.  You  told  me 
as  we  came  home.  What  was  it  ?" 

"  He  said  '  when  a  man  got  filled  with  goodness, 
he  was  like  the  balloon — he  didn't  want  to  stay 
on  earth,  but  longed  to  go  up  to  heaven.' " 

Cousin  Guy  seemed  pleased,  and  said  Kenny 
had  gotten  the  idea  very  well. 

The  next  morning  Mr.  Ellis  went  down  town 
in  the  carriage.  As  he  returned,  Kenny  met 
him  and  opened  the  gate.  Mr.  Ellis  seemed 
highly  pleased,  and  said  to  Kenny : 

"  I've  got  something  for  you." 

"  For  me  2  O,  I'm  so  glad.    What  is  it  ?" 
6 


62  NEWS    OF    HIGHFLIER. 


Mr.  Ellis  did  not  reply,  but  handed  him  a 
newspaper.  Kenny  seemed  disappointed,  and 
said: 

"  Why,  father !  this  is  nothing  but  the  morning's 
paper ;  and  you  know  I  can't  read.  Ain't  you  just 
teazing  me  ?" 

"  No,  indeed  I  am  not.  There  is  something  in 
this  paper  that  will  interest  you  very  much  ;  you 
take  it,  and  ask  Cousin  Guy  to  find  it  for  you." 

So  Kenny  took  the  paper,  and  carried  it  to  Cousin 
Guy,  telling  him  what  his  father  had  said.  Cousin 
Guy  laid  down  his  book,  and  commenced  looking 
over  the  paper  very  carefully.  Kenny  stood  by, 
his  countenance  indicating  curiosity  and  impa 
tience.  Presently  Cousin  Guy  said  : 

"  O  here  it  is  I"  and  read  as  follows : 

"  "We  clip  the  following  from  the  '  Gazette'  of 
Saturday.  '  On  yesterday  our  village  was  a  little 
startled  by  an  unusual  visitor,  in  the  shape  of  a  pa 
per  balloon  of  the  largest  size.  Its  gaudy  colors 
were  peculiarly  attractive  to  the  boys,  as  it  grace 
fully  alighted  in  the  streets  unhurt  by  its  aerial  voy 
age.  It  bore  in  glowing  colors  the  somewhat  am 
bitious  name  of  '  Highflier,'  also  '  Gustavo  Berger,' 
the  name  of  its  architect,  besides  the  following  lines: 

'  Highflier,  speed  over  land  and  sea, 
And  when  you  are  done  come  back  to  me. 

EJLLM.' 


AFTERNOON    BIDE. 


When  the  curiosity  of  passers-by  had  been  satisfied, 
the  boys  took  possession  of  the  balloon,  and  will 
doubtless  launch  it  for  another  voyage,  if  the  owner 
does  not  come  forward  and  prove  property.  If  it 
shall  start,  it  is  doubtful  whether  it  will  return  to 
Kenny.  But  if  he  shall  see  this  notice, -and  come 

to  • ville,  he  may  have  the  pleasure  of  seeing 

his  lost  balloon  once  more." 

When  Cousin  Guy  finished  reading  this,  Kenny 
was  almost  crazy  with  surprise  and  pleasure.  He 
flew  to  tell  Gustave  that  the  balloon  had  been 
found,  and  could  be  gotten  again.  Gustave  said 

he  knew  the  \f  ay  to ville — that  it  was  only  ten 

miles — that  he  would  start  immediately  and  walk, 
or  else  ride  on  Dave,  and  bring  the  balloon  back. 
So  Kenny  went  in  to  ask  his  father  if  Gustave 
might  go.  Mr.  Ellis  said,  that  in  the  afternoon  he 
would  take  the  carriage,  and  they  would  all  go. 
Mrs.  Ellis  seemed  highly  pleased  at  the  idea,  and 
told  Mary  to  have  dinner  soon,  that  they  might 
have  a  long  afternoon  for  the  ride. 

By  the  time  dinner  was  over,  Dave  was  har 
nessed  and  the  carriage  waiting  at  the  door.  Mr. 
Ellis  had  two  carriages;  one  could  be  shut  up 
juite  close  and  was  heavy.  This  was  used  in  win 
ter,  and  for  short  drives  in  town.  The  other  was 
open  and  light,  and  was  always  used  for  a  long 
country  ride.  This  was  the  one  used  on  the  pres- 


64  WASHING    OUT    OF    DOORS. 

ent  occasion.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ellis  occupied  the 
back  seat,  and  Gustave  and  Cousin  Guy,  with  Ken 
ny  between  them,  the  front  seat.  Mr.  Ellis  want 
ed  to  take  Gustave,  because  he  was  so  much  inter 
ested  in  the  balloon,  and,  besides,  he  could  perhaps 
assist  very  much  in  getting  it  and  bringing  it  home. 
There  was  plenty  of  room  for  three  on  the  front 
seat.  The  drive  was  a  delightful  one.  The  road 
was  winding,  and  mostly  through  shady  woods. 
Mr.  Ellis  told  Cousin  Guy  that  he  knew  no  city 
which  had  such  pleasant  roads  round  it  as  Balti 
more.  Cousin  Guy  said  that  this  road  was  as 
winding  as  any  mountain  road,  and  as  romantic  as 
if  it  were  far  away  from,  instead  of  so  near  to,  a 
large  city.  They  stopped  at  a  beautiful  spring 
right  on  the  road  side,  and  Cousin  Guy  borrowed 
from  a  house  near  by  a  tin  dipper,  and  they  all 
drank,  and  found  the  water  very  cool  and  refresh 
ing.  Not  far  from  the  spring  were  some  women 
washing.  They  had  a  fire  right  on  the  ground,  and 
a  large  pot  boiling,  which  hung  from  a  stick  ex 
tended  from  one  tree  to  another.  Mrs.  Ellis  said 
that  washing  out  of  doors  was  very  funny,  and 
that  she  had  never  seen  any  thing  of  the  kind.  But 
Cousin  Guy  said  it  was  not  uncommon  in  Virginia, 
where  he  used  to  live.  He  said  that  it  was  very 
convenient  to  wash  near  the  water ;  and  that  in  the 
summer  it  was  much  pleasanter  out  of  doors  than 


FINDING    HIGHFLIER.  65 


in  the  house,  and  Mr.  Ellis  added  that  it  was  very 
convenient  to  hang  the  cloths  right  on  the  bushes. 
"While  Cousin  Guy  was  carrying  back  the  dipper 
to  the  house,  Kenny  amused  himself  picking  ber 
ries,  and  he  brought  quite  a  handful  to  his  mother. 
He  would  have  liked  to  stay  and  gather  more,  but 
Mr.  Ellis  said  tfiere  was  not  time,  and  Kenny  him 
self  was  very  willing  to  hasten  on  and  secure  his 
balloon.  Mr.  Ellis  said  he  thought  that  some  day 
they  would  come  there  and  spend  the  day,  and 
have  a  sort  of  pic-nic. 

When  they  reached  the  village,  Mr.  Ellis  said 
they  would  drive  to  the  office  of  the  paper  which 
had  contained  the  notice  of  the  balloon,  and  learn 
where  it  might  be  found.  It  was  not  difficult  to 
find  the  office,  as  the  village  contained  but  one 
business  street,  and,  going  along  this,  they  pres 
ently  saw  a  printing-office,  with  a  dingy  sign  over 

the  door,  "  The ville  Gazette."    Mr.  Ellis  went 

in  with  Kenny,  and  asked  a  man  there  if  he  could 
tell  him  where  the  balloon  was.  The  man  asked 
if  that  little  boy  was  "  Kenny,"  and  directed  them 
to- a  house  near  by.  Driving  over,  they  saw  a  boy 
in  the  porch  whittling  a  stick,  and,  without  getting 
out,  Mr.  Ellis  asked  him  to  come  to  the  carriage. 
When  he  did  so,  and  Mr.  Ellis  asked  him  about 
the  balloon,  he  seemed  quite  pleased,  and  said  it 
was  in  the  barn,  and  he  /vould  go  and  get  it.  Gus- 
6* 


66  HIGHFLIER    BURNT. 


tave  and  Kenny  said  they  would  go  with  him.  As 
they  walked  to  the  barn,  Kenny  asked  him,  why 
he  had  not  sent  the  balloon  up.  He  said  that  he 
had  not  known  exactly  how  to  do  it ;  and,  besides, 
his  father  had  thought  he  should  keep  it  to  see 
whether  the  owner  would  come  for  it.  The  boy 
seemed  very  sociable,  and  invitee!  Gustave  and 
Kenny  to  come  to  see  him.  Kenny  told  him  that 
they  would  be  glad  to  do  so,  if  his  father  would  let 
them.  They  found  the  balloon  in  good  order,  and 
Gustave  put  it  into  a  small  compass,  and  wrapped 
it  up  with  newspapers.  When  they  came  to  the 
carriage,  Mr.  Ellis  asked  the  boy  some  questions, 
and  then  offered  to  pay  him  for  his  trouble  in  get 
ting  and  taking  care  of  the  balloon  ;  but  he  said  he 
had  not  had  any  trouble,  that  he  did  not  want  any 
money,  and  he  was  very  glad  that  Kenny  had  gotten 
his  balloon  again.  They  all  thanked  him  for  his  kind 
ness,  and  thought  him  very  polite,  indeed.  Gustave 
very  ingeniously  tied  the  balloon  to  the  top  of  the 
carriage  inside,  and  it  was  thus  safely  carried  home. 
A  few  days  after,  the  balloon  was  set  off  again, 
and  made  as  before  a  very  beautiful  ascent ;  but 
while  it  was  still  in  sight,  it  caught  fire  and  burned 
up.  It  looked  very  pretty,  but  Kenny  said  he  was 
sorry  to  lose  his  balloon.  Gustave  found  the  wire, 
which  fell  to  the  ground.  He  said  that  the  sponge 
slipped  to  one  side  of  the  balloon,  which  was  the 
cause  of  its  taking  fire. 


THE 'ORPHAN    ASYLUM.  67 


CHAPTER    III. 

THE  ORPHAN  ASYLUM. 

O1SE  afternoon  Kenny  came  up  to  Cousin  Guy's 
room,  and  told  him  that  two  little  girls  were 
waiting  at  the  door  to  see  him.  He  went  down 
immediately,  and  found  that  they  were  two  orphan 
children  whom  he  knew  very  well.  They  seemed 
quite  timid,  and  said  they  could  not  come  in, 
though  they  appeared  to  like  Mr.  Meridett  very 
much.  They  said  that  the  managers  of  the  Orphan 
Asylum  had  sent  them  to  ask  him  to  come  the  next 
day  and  preach  to  the  children.  He  said  he  would 
do  so  with  pleasure,  and  then  asked  them  if  they 
would  not  stay,  and  walk  with  him  in  the  garden. 
This  they  very  gladly  agreed  to  do,  and  Mr.  Mer 
idett  talked  with  them,  so  as  to  make  them  feel 
quite  at  ease.  He  also  pleased  them  very  much 
by  giving  them  flowers,  giving  first  one,  and  then 
the  other,  a  flower.  Presently,  each  of  them  had 
quite  a  bouquet  collected,  and  he  said  they  must  be 
tied.  Accordingly,  he  went  to  a  shrub,  made  up 


THE    STRING-PLANT. 


of  long  leaves,  and  cutting  one  of  them  off,  slit  it 
up  into  strips.  They  were  tough  and  strong,  and 
made  very  good  strings.  Kenny  and  the  girls 
were  amused  and  delighted  at  this  new  way  of 
tying  up  a  nosegay.  Kenny  inquired  the  name  of 
this  plant.  Cousin  Guy  said  that  he  did  not  know, 
and%Kenny  said  that  he  would  call  it  the  string- 
plant.  Mr.  Meridett  also  gave  the  girls  some  very 
nice  pears  from  a  tree  which  was  quite  full.  They 
were  small,  but  juicy,  and  of  a  delicious  flavor. 
When  they  had  all  walked  around  the  garden,  and 
gotten  back  to  the  front  door,  the  little  girls  said 
they  must  go.  Cousin  Guy  asked  them  to  wait 
one  moment,  and  he  went  up  stairs  and  brought 
down,  two  cards,  each  containing  a  picture  and 
some  verses,  and  gave  one  to  each  of  the  girls. 
They  said  they  would  learn  the  verses  to  say  to 
Mr.  Meridett.  Then  they  said : 

"Be  sure  to  come  to-morrow,  Mr.  Meridett," 
and  left,  Mr.  Meridett  and  Kenny  accompanying 
them  to  the  gate.  As  Cousin  Guy  and  Kenny  re 
turned  to  the  house,  Kenny  said  : 

"  Cousin  Guy,  you  were  very  kind  to  those  girls. 
I  think  you  were  kinder  to  them  than  you  were  to 
me.  In  fact,  you  hardly  talked  to  me  at  all." 

"  Well,  they  were  company  ;  you  are  home- 
folks.  It  is  always  proper  to  be  more  attentive  to 
company  than  to  home-folks.  I  can  talk  to  you 


KENNY  AT  THE  ORPHAN  ASYLUM.   69 

any  time  you  know.  Besides,  Kenny,  those  little 
girls  have  not  a  kind  father  and  mother  and  a 
pleasant  home  like  yours,  and  I  love  to  treat  them 
kindly  and  make  them  happy." 

"  O  yes,  and  you  do  treat  me  kindly  too,  don't 
you  ?" 

The  next  afternoon  Cousin  Guy  went  to  preach 
at  the  Asylum.  As  he  was  going,  Kenny  said : 

"  Cousin  Guy,  please  let  me  go  with  you." 

"  Oh  yes,"  he  replied,  "  you  may  go,  if  your 
mother  is  willing." 

"  I  should  like  to  have  him  go,"  said  Mrs.  Ellis 
to  Cousin  Guy.  Then  turning  to  Kenny,  she  said : 
"  Come  with  me  up  stairs,  and  let  me  pin  you  on 
a  clean  collar  and  brush  your  hair." 

"  I  will  go  with  you,  Cousin  Guy,"  said  Kenny, 
"  if  you  will  promise  not  to  let  me  sit  with  the 
other  children,  but  to  sit  by  you,  while  you  are 
preaching." 

"  I  cannot  make  any  condition,"  said  Cousin 
Guy.  "  I  will  promise  to  take  care  of  you,  but  you 
must  leave  all  the  rest  to  me." 

"  "Well,"  said  Kenny,  "  I  believe  I  will  go,  any 
how." 

The  Orphan  Asylum  was  a  large  brick  build 
ing,  with  a  great  many  windows.  Kenny  began  to 
count  them,  but  had  not  finished  when  they  began 
to  go  up  the  steps.  At  the  top  of  the  steps  was  a 


70  REMEMBER    THE    ORPHAN. 


box  for  money,  and  a  little  hole  at  the  top.  There 
were  some  words  painted  on  the  box,  and  Cousin 
Guy  said  the  words  were  "  Remember  tJie-  Or 
phan."  He  explained  to  Kenny  that  this  box 
was  for  visitors  to  the  Asylum  to  put  money  in 
for  the  Orphans,  and  told  Kenny  that  when  he 
came  there  the  first  time  he  put  in  half  a  dollar. 
Kenny  said  he  meant  to  ask  his  father  to  give 
him  some  money  to  put  in  the  next  time  he  came. 
Cousin  Guy  had  rung  a  bell,  and  a  little  girl 
came  to  the  door.  She  looked  very  smiling,  and 
seemed  glad  to  see  them,  and  showed  them  into 
the  parlor.  Kenny  amused  himself  looking  at  a 
tall  clock  in  one  corner  of  the  room.  It  stood  on 
the  floor,  and  reached  nearly  to  the  top  of  the 
room.  Kenny  said  he  never  had  seen  a  clock  like 
that  before.  He  was  also  very  much  interested 
in  listening  to  the  children  in  an  adjoining  room. 
Cousin  Guy  told  him  they  were  getting  ready  for 
meeting.  Presently  they  heard  the  children 
marching  through  the  passage. 

"  Now,"  said  Cousin  Guy,  "  they  are  going  into 
the  chapel." 

"  What  is  the  chapel  ?" 

"  The  room  where  they  have  meeting." 

Kenny  looked,  and  saw  the  children  passing  by. 
As  they  did  so,  many  of  them  looked  at  him  and 
smiled.  Presently  all  was  still,  and  a  lady  came 


KENNY    IN    THE     CHAPEL.  71 


in  and  spoke  to  Mr.  Meridett  and  Kenny,  and  told 
Mr.  Mcridett  that  the  children  were  waiting  for 
him.  So  she  led  the  way  into  the  chapel.  This 
was  a  large  room,  with  a  platform  and  table  at  one 
end  for  the  preacher,  and  filled  with  seats.  Some 
of  the  benches  were  quite  low,  so  that  the  little 
children  sitting  on  them  might  put  their  feet  on 
the  floor.  When  Mr.  Meridett  and  Kenny  entered 
the  room,  all  the  children  rose  on  their  feet  and 
stood,  till  Mr.  Meridett  got  to  the  desk.  Many  of 
them  bowed,  and  he  bowed  several  times.  He 
took  a  chair,  and  placed  it  just  one  side  of  the  desk, 
and  told  Kenny  to  sit  down.  Kenny  was  thus 
neither  with  the  other  children,  nor  was  he  exactly 
with  Mr  Meridett,  but  he  readily  took  the  seat 
given  to  him. 

Mr.  Meridett  commenced  by  saying : 
""When  I  was  last  here,  you  sang  me  a  very 
pretty  song,  beginning, 

'  I  want  to  be  an  angel, 
And  with  the  angels  stand.' 

"Will  you  please  sing  that  now  ?" 

After  that  he  said : 

"  Xow,  we  are  about  to  pray.  I  shall  be  very 
short ;  and  I  want  you  all  not  only  to  kneel  down, 
and  shut  your  eyes  and  keep  still,  but  to  think  <jf 
what  is  said,  and  try  and  feel  it  too." 


72     THE  CHILDREN  CATECHIZED. 


The  children  were  indeed  very  quiet  during  the 
prayer.  Then  there  was  another  song.  Then 
Cousin  Guy  said : 

"  Now,  before  I  preach  you  another  sermon,  I 
want  to  see  what  is  remembered,  of  the  one  I 
preached  before.  All  who  can  tell  me  where  the 
text  is,  hold  up  their  hands.7'  Nearly  all  the  hands 
in  the  room  went  up. 

"Where  is  it?— all  together." 

"  First  chapter  of  Genesis,  first  verse." 

"  Right.  Now,  who  can  repeat  the  text  ?  Let  all 
who  can  raise  their  hands.  Sarah,  you  may  re 
peat  it." 

"  In  the  beginning  God  created  the  heavens  and 
the  earth." 

"  Right.  John,  does  that  mean  in  the  beginning 
of  God's  life?" 

"  No ;  for  God  had  no  beginning." 

"  Yery  well.    Susan,  what  is  meant  by  created" 

"  To  make  out  of  nothing." 

"Very  well.  Suppose  men 'build  a  house,  do 
they  create  it  ?" 

"  No,  sir,  because  they  make  it  out  of  some 
thing" 

"  Can  man  create  any  thing  ?" 

"No,  sir." 

"Who  can?" 

"God." 


DESCRIPTION    OF    THE    EARTH.  T3 

"  Yery  well.  Charley,  what  is  meant  here  by 
the  heavens  ?  Does  it  mean  the  place  where  God, 
and  angels,  and  good  people  dwell  ?" 

"]STo;  it  means  the  sky,  and  sun,  and  moon, 
and  stars." 

"  What  is  meant  by  the  earth  ?" 

"  This  world  in  which  we  live." 

"  Chapman,  can  you  tell  me  any  thing  about 
the  sun,  and  moon,  and  stars  ?" 

"  They  are  very  large,  though  they  look  small." 

"What  makes  them  look  small,  if  they  are 
large?" 

"  They  are  so  far  off.  A  man  on  a  steeple  looks 
small.  A  large  balloon  gets  small  after  it  has 
gotten  up  high,  and  at  last  it  gets  to  be  a  mere 
speck." 

Kenny's  eyes  sparkled  at  this  reference  to  the 
balloon.  He  looked  as  if  he  wanted  to  say  he 
understood  that. 

"Ben,  can  you  tell  me  any  thing  about  the 
earth?" 

"  It  is  very  large,  and  has  on  top  of  it  mountains 
and  valleys,  seas,  rivers,  trees,  flowers,  vegetables, 
and  all  sorts  of  animals ;  and  inside  of  it  coal,  and 
gold,  and  iron,  and  all  sorts  of  metals." 

"  Yery  well.  Now,  Kate,  what  sort  of  a  being 
must  this  God  be  ?" 

"  Powerful  and  good." 
7 


74  MR.  MEKIDETT'S   SERMON. 


"  Yes ;  and  how  should  we  feel  and  do  towards 
him?" 

"We  should  be  afraid  to  displease  him.  We 
should  love  him,  and  mind  him." 

"  You  have  all  answered  very  well.  I  do  not 
think  any  congregation  of  grown  people  could 
have  remembered  a  sermon  better.  And  now  I 
will  preach  you  another.  My  text  is  in  the  Song 
of  Solomon,  2d  chapter,  and  15th  verse:  'TAKE  us 

THE  FOXES,  THE' LITTLE  FOXES,  THAT  SPOIL  THE  YOUNG 
AND   TENDER   GRAPES."1 

"  Please  to  repeat  it." 

"When  this  was  done,  Mr.  Meridett  proceeded  to 
preach  them  the  following 

SERMON. 

"There  was  once  a  man  who  had  a  beautiful 
garden,  containing  various  kinds  of  vegetables  and 
flowers.  One  morning  he  came  to  it,  and  found 
that  the  fence  had  been  broken  down,  and  that 
some  cows  and  horses  had  gotten  in,  and  had  eaten 
and  trodden  down  many  of  the  plants.  The  man 
was  very  sorry.  He  mended  the  fence  with  great 
care,  making  it  stronger  than  it  was  before,  and 
then  said  to  himself, '  Well,  my  garden  is  safe  now; 
I  do  not  think  those  mischievous  cows  and  horses 
can  get  in  again.'  Shortly  after  that,  one  cool 
April  morning,  very  early,  he  went  to  look  at  his 


LITTLE    SINS.  75 


garden.  What  do  you  suppose  he  found  ?  "Why 
he  found  that  something  had  been  in  his  garden, 
eating  the  young  buds  off  his  currant  bushes,  and 
the  green  grapes  off  his  vines.  He  was  very  much 
surprised.  The  gate  was  locked,  the  fence  had  not 
been  broken,  and  there  were  no  tracks  to  be  seen 
any  where.  But  he  looked  about  carefully,  and 
pretty  soon  he  says,  'Ah,  I  see,  it  is  those  little 
foxes ;  I  must  stop  them,  as  well  as  the  horses  and 
cows,  or  I  shall  not  have  any  fruit.'  So  he  went 
to  work  to  catch  those  little  foxes.  Don't  you 
think  he  did  exactly  right  ? 

"  Well,  now,  dear  children,  I  want  to  set  you  all 
to  catching  foxes.  I  do  not  mean,  sure  enough, 
foxes  with  hair,  and  tails,  and  teeth.  I  mean,  how 
ever,  things  that  trouble  you  just  as  the  foxes 
troubled  that  man,  and  which,  therefore,  we  may 
call  foxes.  I  mean  little  sins. 

"  You  know  that  man  thought  when  he  had  shut 
out  the  cows  and  horses  from  his  garden,  that  he 
had  nothing  to  fear.  But  he  soon  found  that  little 
foxes  could  get  in,  and  do  him  great  harm.  Now, 
just  so  a  boy  will  say  to  himself,  '  I  don't  steal,  or 
tell  lies,  or  curse,  and  I  will  get  on  very  well.' 
But  pretty  soon  he  has  yielded  to  some  little  sinful 
habit,  and  he  finds  that  it  has  done  him  real  harm. 
That  sinful  habit  is  to  him  what  the  foxes  were  to 
the  garden.  Now,  would  it  not  be  well  for  him 


76  EXAGGERATION. 

to  do  as  the  gardener  did — set  to  work  to  destroy 
what  is  so  mischievous? 

"  In  the  first  place,  1  will  tell  you  of  some  little 
foxes  that  eat  the  young  grapes — by  which  I  mean 
the  little  sins  that  injure  your  happiness,  and  good 
ness,  and  usefulness. 

Thejfafi  fox  that  I  want  you  to  catch  is  exagger 
ation.  Now,  I  suppose  none  of  you  would  tell  a 
downright  lie,  and  yet  I  am  afraid  that  the  best  of 
you  do  sometimes  tell  lies.  I  will  show  you  how. 
A  few  weeks  ago,  one  of  these  little  girls  came  in 
from  a  walk  one  cold  morning,  and  said,  '  O  me ! 
my  fingers  are  frozen.'  Now,  was  that  true  ?  I 
think  not.  Let  me  tell  you  something  I  saw  yes 
terday.  I  went  to  see  a  poor  man,  and  found  him 
sitting  in  the  corner  with  one  of  his  hands  tied  up. 
I  said,  '  Why,  what  is  the  matter  with  your  hand  ?' 
'  Oh,  sir,  frosted  it  is.'  '  I  am  very  sorry.  How 
did  you  do  it?'  '"Well,  you  see,  I  took  a  drap  too 
much,  and  got  to  sleep  out  of  doors,  and  it>  was 
very  cold,  and  so  I  lost  my  fingers.' 

"  '  Lost  your  fingers  !' 

"  'Yes,  sir;  three  of  my  fingers,  aud  lieie  .Le^ 
are,'  and  as  he  said  this  he  held  up  a  bottle  with 
his  three  fingers,  which  had  come  off,  and  which 
he  was  keeping  in  some  brandy.  Now,  wasn't 
that  dreadful  ?  You  see,  then,  what  it  is  to  have 
fingers  frozen,  and  how  foolish  it  is  for  a  little  girl 


PROFANITY.  77 

whose  fingers  are  only  a  little  cold,  and  will  soon 
be  comfortable,  to  say  '  my  fingers  are  frozen.' 

"  Not  long  ago,  I  heard  a  little  boy  say,  as  he 
came  in  from  an  errand,  '  I  am  so  tired,  I  am  al 
most  dead.'  Do  you  think  that  was  true  ?  I  once 
saw  a  little  boy  almost  dead.  He  laid  upon  the 
bed  scarcely  able  to  breathe,  so  weak  that  he 
could  not  sit  up,  so  pale  that  it  was  painful  to  see 
him,  while  his  eyes  were  dim,  and  cold  sweat  was 
on  his  forehead.  But  the  boy  who  said  he  was 
almost  dead  looked  very  bright  and  well,  and  in  a 
few  minutes  was  eating  a  slice  of  bread  and  butter, 
and  playing  merrily  in  the  yard.  Didn't  that  boy 
tell  a  story  when  he  said,  '  I  am  almost  dead  ?' 

"  I  once  heard  a  little  girl  say,  '  Molly,  you  are 
so  slow,  you  will  be  at  that  work  forever.'  Molly 
was  done  in  five  minutes,  while  forever  is  more 
than  hundreds  and  thousands,  and  millions  of 
ears. 

"  You  see,  now,  what  I  mean  by  exaggeration. 
Remember  that  is  a  fox  for  you  to  catch. 

"Another  fox  is  profanity.  I  do  not  mean  curs 
ing  and  swearing,  for  .1  do  not  suppose  that  any 
of  you  ever  are  profane  in  this  way.  O  no  ;  I 
hope  that  you  feel  so  that,  if  you  were  walking 
along,  and  should  hear  a  boy  curse,  you  would 
almost  shudder,  and  want  to  run  off  as  fast  as  pos 
sible.  And  yet  I  am  afraid  that  even  some  of 
7* 


78  CARELESSNESS. 

you  girls  are  often  profane  in  another  way.  I 
will  tell  you  how.  You  do  not  exactly  curse,  but 
sometimes  when  you  fall  down  you  say,  '  O 
Lordy !'  Is  not  that  taking  the  name  of  the  Lord 
in  vain  ?  Sometimes  you  are  very  much  surprised 
at  something,  and  you  say,  '  My  goodness  !' 
*Good  gracious  !'  Perhaps  some  of  the  boys  say, 
any  time,  '  By  George  !'  '  By  jingo !'  which,  if  not 
regular  swearing,  is  certainly  first  cousin  to  it. 
Now  all  this  is  profanity.  Please  to  remember 
that  profanity  is  one  of  the  foxes  for  you  to 
catch. 

"  Another  fox  is  carelessness.  I  once  saw  some 
mischievous  boys  throw  stones  at  a  window  till 
every  pane  of  glass  was  broken :  of  course  none 
of  you  would  do  that.  I  once  heard  of  boys  tying 
the  grass  in  the  path,  so  that  a  gentleman  in  pass 
ing  by  was  tripped  up  and  sprained  his  ankle  :  I 
am  sure  none  of  you  would  do  such  a  mean  trick. 
And  yet,  by  carelessness,  you  may  often  do  things 
which  are  just  as  bad  in  their  effects  as  these. 
Perhaps,  Johnny  there,  from  carelessness,  threw 
his  ball  so  as  to  break  a  pane  of  glass.  The  money 
that  was  used  to  mend  that  glass  would  have 
bought  a  poor  widow  a  loaf  of  bread.  Perhaps 
Kate  threw  an  orange  upon  the  steps,  which  not 
only  looked  untidy,  but  might  have  caused  some 
person  to  slip  and  fall  very  badly.  Susan,  when 


IDLENESS.  79 

ironing  the  clothes,  burnt  a  hole  in  one  of  the 
pieces,  by  using  the  iron  too  hot.  Some  people 
never  put  any  thing  in  its  place,  and  never  know 
where  to  look  for  any  thing.  They  are  always 
untidy,  their  shoes  untied,  their  clothes  half  fas 
tened,  their  hair  rough.  All  this  is  from  careless 
ness.  I  think  you  will  agree  that  carelessness, 
though  not  as  bad  as  stealing  and  lying,  is,  ne 
vertheless,  wrong.  Carelessness,  then,  is  another 
little  fox  to  be  caught  and  killed. 

I  could  mention  many  more.  There  is  a  quick 
or  peevish  temper,  which  is  a  right  big  fox. 
There  is  the-  habit  of  loitering,  when  sent  on 
errands,  or  having  work  to  do.  There  is  idleness. 
There  is  the  habit  of  excusing  yourself,  when  you 
have  done  wrong.  But  I  will  not  tell  you  about 
these,  nor  mention  any  more ;  I  want  you  to  look 
out  for  them  yourselves. 

"  Now,  in  the  second  place,  I  am  going  to  tell  you 
why  you  should  catch  these  little  foxes. 

"The  first  reason  is,  that  little  sins  are  just  as 
truly  sins  as  great  ones.  Here  is  a  pitcher  of 
water.  It  is  not  as  much  water  as  a  tubful.  But 
it  is  as  truly  water  as  a  tubful,  or  an  ocean.  It 
is  the  same  kind  of  thing.  Now  it  is  just  so 
about  sin.  Little  or  much,  sin  is  always  the  same 
kind  of  thing.  It  is  always  bad  and  dreadful. 

The  second  reason  is,  that  God  hates  little  sins. 


80  THE    DANGER    OF    LITTLE    SINS. 

God  commands  us  to  be  perfectly  good,  and  we 
cannot  be  so,  while  we  have  any  sins,  or  bad 
habits,  no  matter  how  small  they  are. 

"The  third  reason  is,  that  little  sins  do  a  great 
deal  of  harm  to  ourselves  and  other  people.  You 
know  the  man  thought  his  garden  very  safe  when 
he  had  shut  out  the  big  cows  and  horses,  but  he 
found  afterwards  that  little  foxes  could  do  much 
injury.  Just  so  about  little  faults.  You  have 
already  seen  how  some  of  them  can  do  harm  to 
yourselves  and  other  people. 

"  T\IQ  fourth  and  last  reason  is,  that  little  sins  will 
at  last  grow  to  be  big  ones,  and  will  lead  on  to 
other  sins.  It  would  be  pretty  easy  to  catch  little, 
young  foxes,  but  it  would  not  be  so  easy  after 
they  got  strong  and  cunning.  Just  so  about  little 
sins.  Now  they  are  young  and  weak,  and  you 
can  overcome  them  ;  but,  after  a  while,  they  will 
become  old  and  strong,  and  will  overcome  yon. 

"  If  the  man  did  not  stop  the  foxes,  they  would 
makes  holes  in  the  fence,  bigger  and  bigger,  so 
that  at  first,  pigs,  and,  at  last,  cows  and  horses  could 
enter,  and  the  man  would  have  no  garden.  Just 
BO  little  sins  make  way  for  large  ones.  The  boy 
who  begins  by  saying  'By  jingo!'  will  at  last  say 
'  By  God  !'  The  little  girl  who  begins  by  telling 
a  story  in  play,  or  in  thoughtlessness,  will  end  by 
telling  one  deliberately  and  in  earnest.  The  boy 


LITTLE    BOY    AND    THE    DAM.  81 

who  is  careless  about  breaking  a  window,  may 
come  at  last  to  be  regularly  dishonest  and  break 
into  a  house.  Indeed  we  must  be  careful  of  little 
beginnings.  There  was  a  little  boy  once  who  was 
playing  on  his  father's  mill-dam.  A  dam,  you 
know,  is  a  bank  of  earth,  or  stone,  which  keeps  the 
water  from  flowing  on,  so  that  a  pond  of  water  is 
formed.  Well,  he  thought  it  would  be  fine  fun  to 
cut  a  little  ditch  across  the  dam,  and  see  water  run 
over  the  dam.  He  did  so,  and  when  he  was  tired 
went  home,  and  ate  his  supper,  and  went  to  bed. 
That  night,  his  father  heard  a  great  noise,  and 
went  out,  and  found  that  the  water  of  his  pond 
had  carried  the  dam  away,  and  was  rushing 
furiously  through  the  hole  it  had  made.  All  this 
was  the  result  of  the  ditch  which  the  boy  had  dug. 
Indeed  we  must  be  careful  of  little,  bad  beginnings. 

"  Now,  in  the  last  place,  I  will  tell  you  how  to 
catch  the  little  foxes ;  that  is,  how  to  overcome 
these  little  bad  habits. 

"  First,  you  must  determine  to  do  it.  Suppose 
that  gardener  had  said :  '  O  me !  these  little  foxes 
are  very  troublesome.  How  I  wish  there  were  no 
foxes  !  I  wish  somebody  would  catch  them.' 
Suppose  he  had  said  that,  and  no  more.  You  see 
very  clearly  that  would  have  done  no  good.  The 
foxes  would  have  kept  coming  until  they  had  de 
stroyed  every  thing  in  the  garden.  But  he  was 


82  THE    SERMON    ENDED. 

not  so  foolish.  He  said  :  '  I  will  go  to  work  and 
catch  them.'  It  will  not  do  for  you  merely  to 
regret  your  sins,  and  say,  '  O,  I  wish  I  had  not 
so  many  sins ;  I  hope  I  will  grow  better.'  You 
must  say :  '  I  will  try  to  overcome  my  sins.'  That 
is  the  way  to  talk. 

"  But  secondly,  you  must  not  only  say  this,  but 
do  it.  You  must  not  only  determine,  but  act.  I 
think  I  can  see  that  gardener,  as  he  goes  back  to 
his  house.  He  is  busy  thinking  what  to  do.  He 
contrives  and  makes  traps,  and  sets  them  in  all 
the  good  places  he  can  find.  He  tells  all  the 
people  on  the  premises  to  watch  for  the  foxes. 
Now,  I  am  quite  sure  that,  doing  all  this,  he  will 
every  day  catch  a  fox,  until  at  last,  there  wjll  be 
no  more  left  to.  trouble  him.  Just  so  you  must 
do.  Having  determined  to  get  rid  of  your  faults, 
you  must  go  to  work.  You  must  look  out  for 
them  ;  you  must  get  some  friends  to  help  you. 
Above  all,  you  must  get  God  to  help  you.  This 
is  to  be  done  by  prayer  to  him. 

"  Now,  my  sermon  is  done.  Have  you  been  in 
terested?  All  who  have  been  interested  will 
hold  up  their  hands.  Ah !  I  see  all  hands  up.  J 
am  very  glad  you  like  my  sermon.  Now,  when  I 
come  again,  I  will  see  how  much  you  remember 
of  it.  But  I  want  you  to  practise  it.  If  you  hear  a 
sermon,  and  do  not  try  to  practise  it,  you  would  be 


MEETING    DISMISSED.  83 

like  a  man  sick,  who  should  get  some  medicine 
from  the  store,  but,  instead  of  swallowing  it,  should 
either  let  it  stay  on  the  mantel,  or  throw  it  out  of 
the  window.  You  can  see  that  that  medicine  would 
do  him  no  good.  Just  so,  my  sermon  will  do  you 
no  good,  unless  you  use  it  in  your  daily  life.  Now, 
will  you  all  try  to  do  this  ?  Will  you  all  try  to 
catch  the  foxes,  that  I  have  told  you  about  ?  All 
that  will  try,  hold  up  their  hands.  Ah !  I  am 
glad  to  see  so  many  hands  go  up.  Now  we  will 
pray  to  God  to  help  us." 

As  soon  as  the  meeting  was  dismissed,  the  chil 
dren  crowded  around  Mr.  Meridett,  each  eager  to 
shake  hands  with  him,  and  have  him  speak  to 
them.  Some  of  them  kept  hold  of  his  hand,  so 
that  half  a  dozen  would  be  clinging  to  him  at 
once.  The  larger  girls  would  bring  the  little  chil 
dren,  and  hold  them  up  to  speak  to  him.  The 
scene  was  not  unlike  the  swarming  of  a  hive  of 
bees.  Mr.  Meridett  received  all  the  children  very 
kindly,  giving  to  each  a  smile,  and  a  kind  word. 
Many  of  them  also  gathered  around  Kenny,  and 
seemed  much  interested  in  talking  to  him,  examin 
ing  his  scarlet  coat  and  brass  buttons.  He,  on  the 
other  hand,  was  much  pleased  with  the  uniform 
worn  by  the  girls,  consisting  of  blue  dresses,  with 
white  capes  and  aprons. 


84          INSPECTION    OF    THE    ASYLUM. 

Presently  Mr.  Meridett  said : 

"  Did  you  all  think  all  the  stories  I  told  were 
about  Kenny  ?  I  saw  you  look  at  him  whenever  I 
said  any  thing  about  a  little  boy." 

"/thought  you  meant- me,"  said  Kenny. 

"Well,  I  did,  sometimes,  but  not  always.  I 
hope,  however,  that  you,  as  well  as  the  rest,  will 
try  to  profit  by  them." 

The  matron  now  asked  Mr.  Meridett  if  he  wished 
to  go  over  the  house.  He  thanked  her,  and  said 
that  he  had  already  been  over,  but  he  would  be 
glad  to  do  so  again  if  Kenny  wanted  to  go.  Kenny 
said  he  would  like  to  very  much.  So,  bowing  to 
the  children,  Mr.  Meridett  and  Kenny  followed  the 
matron  out  of  the  room.  First,  they  went  up  stairs 
into  a  bed-chamber.  It  was  very  large,  occupying 
one  entire  side  of  the  house,  and  containing  sixty 
beds.  The  bedsteads  were  of  iron,  and  the  counter 
panes  of  blue  check  calico.  This  room,  the  matron 
said,  was  the  boys'  room.  Then  they  went  into 
another  exactly  like  it,  which,  she  said,  was  the 
girls'  chamber.  In  this  there  were  several  very 
small  beds,  and  some  pallets  for  the  little  children, 
boys  as  well  as  girls.  The  lady  then  showed  them 
two  large  closets,  in  which  all  the  clothes  of  the 
children  were  kept.  There  were  shelves  on  all 
the  walls,  and  reaching  up  to  the  ceiling,  and 
these  shelves  were  partitioned  off,  so  as  to  make  a 


LARGE    COFFEE-POT.  85 

great  many  square  boxes.  Each  child  had  one  of 
these,  and  the  name  of  its  owner  was  written  over 
each  box.  Mr.  Meridett,  noticed  how  neatly  the 
clothes  had  been  folded  and  laid  in  these  boxes.  The 
lady  told  him  that  every  "Saturday  afternoon  the 
clean  clothes  were  brought  up  from  the  ironing- 
room,  and  carefully  put  away  into  the  boxes  in 
which  they  belonged.  She  said  she  would  now 
show  them  the  rooms  where  the  cooking,  and  wash 
ing,  and  ironing  were  done.  These  rooms  were  in 
the  basement.  When  they  got  down,  they  saw 
several  large  girls  busy  at  work.  Kenny  asked  if 
those  girls  were  the  servants.  The  lady  told  him  that 
there  were  no  regular  servants  in  the  house ;  that 
all  the  work  was  done  by  the  boys  and  girls  them 
selves.  Mr.  Meridett  inquired  if  they  seemed  will 
ing  to  work.  She  replied  that  most  of  them  seemed 
to  like  it. 

"  O,  Cousin  .Guy !"  said  Kenny,  "  look  at  those 
great  pots !     "What  are  they  for  ?" 

"  That  one  nearest  to  you  is  for  boiling  the  cof 
fee,"  said  the  lady. 

"  Coffee  in  that  big  pot  ?" 

"  Yes,  indeed ;  we  make  that  full  every  morning 
for  breakfast,  and  there  is  seldom  any  left." 

"Cousin  Guy,  should  you  think  that  children 
could   drink    such    a    big  pot-full  of   coffee    ai 
that?" 
8 


86  CAKES    AND    PRESERVES. 


"  There  are  so  many  of  them  that  it  takes  a  great 
deal,"  replied  Mr.  Meridett. 

"Those  other  pots,"  continued  the  lady,  "are 
for  boiling  meat,  and  water  to  wash  with,  and  un 
der  all  of  them  is  the  fire."  Saying  this,  she 
opened  the  door  of  the  range,  and  showed  them  a 
bright  coal  fire.  "  And  here  is  the  oven."  As 
she  said  this,  the  girls  began  to  take  out  the  loaves 
of  bread,  and  lay  them  on  wooden  trays.  The 
loaves  were  so  large  and  so  numerous,  that  Kenny 
wondered  as  much  about  them  as  he  did  about  the 
coffee ;  but  the  girls  said  they  would  all  be  gone 
after  breakfast  the  next  day.  The  bread  looked  so 
brown,  and  smelt  so  nice,  that  Kenny  wanted  a 
piece ;  but  Cousin  Guy  told  him  that  he  must  wait 
till  he  got  home. 

"Do  the  children  have  any  good  things?"  said 
Kenny. 

"  Certainly,"  said  the  matron,  "  good  bread,  and 
coffee,  and  soup,  and  such  things.  Ain't  they 
good?" 

"  Yes,  but  I  mean  cake  and  preserves." 

"  Not  often." 

"Do  they  ever?" 

"  Yes,  sometimes,  when  some  kind  friend  send 
them.  Last  Christmas,  Mr.  Bennet  sent  a  beaut 
ful  treat — cake,  candy,  and  such  things." 

11  We  have  cake,"  said  Kenny,  "almost  ever 


Kenny  in.  the  Kitchen 


MRS.    HOPE,    THE    MATRON. 


day,  and  father  gets  me  candy  whenever  he  goes 
down  town." 

"  Well,  Kenny,  I  believe  we  have  seen  all  ;  let 
us  go,"  said  his  Cousin  Guy.  ""We  thank  you 
very  much,  Mrs.  Hope,  for  your  kindness  in  show 
ing  us  over  the  house." 

"  Not  at  all,  sir  ;  we  show  all  visitors  over  ;  we 
are  specially  glad,  at  any  time,  to  see  you." 

As  Mr.  Meridett  went  out  of  the  door,  he  saw  a 
glass  case  containing  a  good  many  pretty  and  use 
ful  articles.  The  matron  said  they  were  made  by 
the  children,  and  were  for  sale,  for  the  benefit  of 
the  Orphan  Asylum.  He  bought  a  mat  for  Mrs. 
Ellis.  Kenny  said  there  was  nothing  there  that 
he  wanted,  though  the  things  were  very  nice. 

"  Cousin  Guy,"  said  Kenny,  "  those  children 
love  you  very  much." 

"Yes,  I  think  they  do,  and  I  think  I  know 
why." 


"  First,  because  children  are  naturally  affection 
ate,  and  inclined  to  love  those  around  them,  and 
those  children,  having  no  father,  or  mother,  or 
near  relations,  are  ready  to  love  anybody  who 
shows  them  any  kindness.  They  are  like  little 
vines,  made  by  God  to  cling  to  something,  and 
which  clasp  their  tendrils  around  any  thing  that 
comes  near  to  them." 
8* 


90  KENNY'S  FRIENDS. 


"  What  is  the  other  reason  ?" 

"  "Why,  the  children  see  that  I  love  them,  and 
so  they  love  me.  "We  are  all  very  apt  to  love 
those  that  love  us,  and  children,  even  little  chil 
dren,  soon  find  out  their  friends." 

"  You  are  my  friend,  Cousin  Guy." 

"Yes,  I  think  I  am." 

"I  know  you  are  one  of  my  very  best  friends. 
Father  has  taught  me  to  pray  every  morning  and 
night  for  father,  and  mother,  and  brother  Frank, 
and  all  my  dear  friends ;  and  I  always  think  of  you 
when  I  get  to  that." . 

"  You  have  many  who  love  you,  and  are  kind 
to  you." 

"  Yes,  indeed." 

"  Your  father—" 

"  He  tells  me  stories,  and  paints,  and  draws  for 
me." 

"Yes,  and  gets  you  all  the  good  things  you 
have.  Then  there  is  your  mother." 

"  She  sings  to  me,  and  makes  my  clothes." 

"  I." 

"  You  talk  to  me,  tell  me  all  sorts  of  things  that 
I  like  to  know,  and  take  me  on  expeditions  with 
you." 

"  Frank." 

"  He  don't  do  any  thing  for  me." 

"  He's  a  dear  little  fellow." 


CHATTERBOX.  91 

"  Tes,  I  love  him,  Cousin  Guy ;  but  I  don't  like 
him  much.  You  see  he's  no  company  for  me.  In 
fact,  he  often  gets  in  my  way,  and  troubles  me 
very  much." 

"  Then  you  have  Gustave." 

"  He's  a  first-rate  fellow.  He  makes  me  all  sorts 
of  curious  things,  and  don't  get  mad  with  me," 

"  There's  Catherine." 

"  I  like  her  right  well ;  right  well,  not  very. 
You  see,  Cousin  Guy,  she  is  kind  to  me  some 
times  ;  but  sometimes  she  is  cross,  and  won't  do 
things  for  me,  and  calls  me  names." 

"  What  sort  of  names  ?" 

"  Why,  '  Mr.  Mischievous'  and  *  Chatterbox,' 
and  all  that,  and  I  don't  like  it." 

"  I  expect  you  sometimes  treat  her  badly,  and 
call  her  names." 

"Indeed  I  do,  when  she  makes  me  mad." 

"That  is  very  wrong." 

Kenny  was  silent. 

"  But,  Kenny,"  continued  his  cousin,  "  there  is 
one  thing  you  ought  to  learn  from  what  you  have 
seen  to-day." 

"What  is  that?" 

"  To  be  thankful  for  your  home,  and  father,  and 
mother,  and  kind  friends.  None  of  those  children 
are  so  well  off  as  you  are." 

"  Oh,  there  is  father !"  exclaimed  Kenny,  and 


92  NEWSPAPER    CUTTINGS. 


4 


he  ran  forward  and  caught  hold  of  his  hand.  Mr. 
Ellis  waited  for  Mr.  Meridett  to  come  up,  and 
then  all  three  walked  on  together. 

"  And  did  you  understand  the  sermon,  Kenny  ?" 
said  his  father. 

"I  reckon  I  did.     I  couldn't  help  it." 

"  What  was  it  about  ?" 

"  About  little  foxes,  sir,"  said  Kenny,  with  a  sly 
twinkle. 

"  About  little  foxes !" 

"  Yes,  indeed  it  was.    Wasn't  it,  Cousin  Guy  ?" 
Well,  tell  me  about  it,  Kenny." 
Not  now\  father." 

After  supper  was  over,  and  Kenny  had  gone  to 
bed,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ellis  and  Cousin  Guy  were 
gathered  cosily  in  the  library,  around  the  centre- 
table,  over  which  hung  the  drop-light.  Mrs.  Ellis 
was  sewing;  Mr.  Ellis  reading  papers,  holding 
them  close  to  his  eyes,  and  every  now  and  then 
stopping  to  cut  out  something  with  a  pair  of  scis 
sors,  which  he  kept  on  the  table.  The  pieces  he 
put  in  a  little  paper  box. 

"What  will  you  do  with  those,  Mr.  Ellis?"  in 
quired  Cousin  Guy,  looking  up  from  his  portfolio, 
on  which  he  was  writing  in  his  lap. 

"Well,  I  formed  the  habit  of  cutting  them  out 
when  I  had  the  '  Spectator,'  and  now  I  do  it  for 
the  sake  of  saving  the  pieces  that  I  like.  The 


THE    "SPECTATOR."  93 


papers  will  be  destroyed,  you  know.  Perhaps  I 
shall  give  these  pieces  to  Mr.  Blain ;  perhaps  I 
shall  put  them  into  a  scrap-book  for  Kenny." 

"  That  would  be  a  capital  plan." 

The  '  Spectator1  was  a  paper  of  which  Mr.  Ellis 
had  formerly  been  the  editor,  but  which  was  now 
edited  by  Mr.  Blain.  The  way  editors  make  their 
selections  generally  is  to  cut  pieces  from  maga 
zines  and  other  papers. 

"Cousin  Guy,"  said  Mrs.  Ellis,  "I  am  very 
glad  Kenny  went  with  you.  He  was  not  only 
pleased,  but,  I  hope,  benefited." 

"  He  certainly  understood  and  remembered  the 
sermon,"  said  Mr.  Ellis.  "He  told  me  nearly  all 
of  it.  He  told  me,"  said  Mr.  Ellis,  "that  the  chil 
dren  seemed  very  fond  of  you  ;  but  I  believe  that  is 
no  new  thing;  all  the  children  like  you,  do  they 
not?" 

"  I  certainly  try  to  make  them  do  so,  and  it  is 
not  generally  hard  to  win  the  hearts  of  the  young. 
A  kind  word,  a  smile,  if  given  from  genuine  affec 
tion,  is  always  powerful  to  secure  their  love.  It  is, 
too,  as  important  as  it  is  easy  to  make  children  love 
you ;  for  if  they  do  this,  you  can  have  great  influ 
ence  with  them,  nor  will  they  forget  it  in  after 
years." 

"  I  know,"  said  Mrs.  Ellis,  "  that  I  have  never  for 
gotten  or  ceased  to  love  the  dear  old  pastor,  who 


94  EFFECT    OF    KIND    WORDS. 

never  came  to  our  house  that  he  did  not  stroke  my 
head,  and  speak  some  kind  word." 

"  How  strange,"  said  Mr.  Ellis,  "  that  so  many 
good  men,  ministers  even,  are  utterly  forgetful  of 
this  means  of  exerting  an  influence." 


CRAYONS.  95 


CHAPTER  IV. 

ANOTHER  ACCOMPLISHMENT. 

day,  Gustave  called  Kenny  to  the  shop, 
and  took  out  a  little  parcel,  and  handed  it  to 
him. 

"  What  are  these  ?"  said  Kenny,  as  he  opened 
the  parcel,  and  saw  what  looked  like  little  round 
Bticks. 

"  Crayons." 

"  What  is  a  crayon  ?" 

"  A  sort  of  pencil,  for  the  express  purpose  of 
drawing.  But  you  can  almost  as  well  paint  with 
them,  for  they  are  soft,  and  make  very  broad 
marks,  and  they  are  of  all  kinds  of  colors." 

"Why,  yes,  that  is  beautiful.  Gustave,  these 
crayons  are  a  very  nice  present,  and  I  am  very  much 
obliged  to  you.  I'll  go  right  home  and  try  them 
now;  but  tell  me,  first,  what  are  they  made  of." 

"  A  peculiar  kind  of  earth  or  stone,  I  believe." 

Kenny  took  his  new  treasure  in  with  him,  and 
immediately  began  to  put  the  crayons  into  use. 


96  CRAYON    PAINTING. 


His  father  told  him  he  had  better  first  draw  fig 
ures  with  his  pencil,  and  then  color  them  with  the 
crayons. 

"  Suppose,"  said  he,  "  you  get  some  of  the  pic 
tures  you  have  already  made,  and  paint  them." 

"  Oh !  yes,  and  will  you  show  me  how  ?" 

"  Certainly ;  but  you  will  not  need  much  show- 
ing." 

Kenny  brought  his  portfolio,  and  began  to  turn 
over  his  drawings.  Presently  he  said  : 

"  Father,  here  is  my  soldier ;  shall  I  paint  him  ?" 

"Yes,  that  will  be  a  very  good  one  to  begin 
with.  Now,  you  can  tell  just  as  well  as  I  can 
what  colors  to  use.  "Will  you  have  the  coat  red  or 
blue?" 

"Which  is  best?" 

"  Blue  is  the  American,  red  the  British." 

"  I  will  take  blue,  then  ;  besides,  that  will  look 
better  with  brass  buttons." 

"  Very  well ;  then  the  buttons  you  will  color 
yellow,  of  course." 

"Yes,  sir.  Well,  how  am  I  to  do  the  color- 
ing?" 

"  Just  take  the  crayon  and  use  it  like  a  pencil. 
When  you  want  to  color  a  large  space,  as  the  coat 
for  instance,  you  must  put  the  end  of  it  down  flat ; 
but  if  you  want  to  color  a  small  space,  such  as  a 
outton,  you  must  hold  the  crayon  slanting,  BO  as 


KENNY    IN    TROUBLE.  '  97 

to  touch  only  a  corner  of  it  to  the  paper.  "  $>," 
said  Mr.  Ellis,  showing  him ;  "  do  you  understand?" 

"Yes,  sir." 

"  The  epaulettes  will  be  yellow." 

"  Yes,  sir ;  and  what  color  shall  I  make  the  hat 
and  plume  ?" 

"  Make  the  hat  black,  and  the  plume  red.  Now, 
Kenny,  you  must  go  on  without  me.  I  must  finish 
this  writing  before  dinner.  You  paint  away,  and, 
when  you  are  done,  I  will  look  at  the  picture." 

"If  I  want  to  know  any  thing,  may  I  ask  you?" 

"  If  it  is  something  really  important  you  may, 
not  otherwise." 

Mr.  Ellis  proceeded  with  his  writing,  and  Kenny 
painted  in  silence.  He  was  standing  up  with  his 
paper  on  the  centre-table.  After  awhile  he  seemed 
to  come  to  a  stop.  He  took  up  first  one  crayon, 
and  then  another,  and  seemed  very  much  embar 
rassed.  Finally,  he  came  round  by  his  father, 
and  stood  quietly  with  his  elbows  on  the  table, 
and  his  hands  on  his  chin,  looking  very  anxiously 
at  him.  Presently  Mr.  Ellis  said,  without  looking 
up: 

"Well,  Kenny,  what  is  it?" 

"  Something  very  important,  or  I  would  not  in 
terrupt  you." 

"  "Well,  what  is  it  ?"  said  Mr.  Ellis,  now  laying 
down  his  pen,  and  looking  kindly  at  Kenny. 


98   THE  CRAYON  AND  LEAD  PENCIL. 

"Why,  I  don't  know  how  to  color  this  bayonet, 
and  so  I  cannot  get  on  at  all.  I  have  done  every 
thing  else." 

"What's  the  difficulty?" 

"  Why,  you  see,  the  bayonet  ought  to  be  a  bright, 
shining  color,  and  I  have  not  got  any  crayons  of 
that  sort." 

"I'm  afraid,"  said  Mr.  Ellis,  smiling,  "the  diffi 
culty  is  inherent  to  your  materials." 

"  I  don't  know  what  you  mean  by  that,  sir ;  but 
I  wish  you  would  tell  me  what  to  do." 

"  I  mean  that  I'm  afraid  you  can't  represent  the 
bayonet  very  well  with  those  crayons.  I  tell  you 
what  you'd  better  do ;  black  the  bayonet  with  one 
of  your  pencils ;  that  will  give  it  something  of  the 
shine  of  metal." 

"  Would  that  be  better  than  a  black  crayon  ?" 

"  Yes,  the  pencil  has  more  of  the  metallic  lustre 
about  it  than  the  crayon.  Don't  you  see  that  the 
pencil  has  a  bright  look,  when  held  in  the  sun,  and 
the  crayon  retains  its  dull  look.  The  pencil  is 
made  partly  of  lead,  which  is  a  metal ;  while  the 
crayon  is  made  of  clay  or  stone." 

"  Gustave  told  me  what  the  crayon  was  made 
of.  But,  father,  I  thought  that  all  the  pencil,  ex 
cept  the  wood,  was  lead  ?" 

"  No,  I  think  the  black  part,  that  you  draw  with, 
is  a  composition  made  of  lead  and  other  materials." 


KENNY'S  PAINTING.  99 

"What  other  materials  ?" 

"  I  do  not  know  exactly ;  at  any  rate,  I  cannot 
stop  any  longer  now.  Finish  your  soldier." 

By  the  time  Mr.  Ellis  had  finished  his  writing, 
Kenny  had  done  his  painting.  He  showed  the 
picture  to  his  father,  who  said  it  was  done  very 
well.  He  took  it  up  to  Cousin  Guy's  room,  and 
said: 

"  See  what  I  have  painted." 

"  Painted !  I  did  not  know  you  had  a  paint 
brush." 

"  I  did  it  with  crayons." 

"  I  thought  they  were  for  drawing." 

"  Yes,  but  one  can  color  with  them,  and  I  have 
been  coloring  a  picture  that  I  drew  once  be 
fore." 

"  It  looks  very  well,"  said  Cousin  Guy. 

11 1  like  coloring  with  crayons  better  than  draw 
ing.  It  is  so  nice  to  see  not  only  the  forms  of 
things,  but  their  right  colors." 

"  Yes,  indeed,  it  is  very  fine  to  have  the  colors  ; 
but  I  suppose  it  is  better  to  draw  and  paint  both. 
In  fact,  I  suppose  a  painter  has  to  do  both.  He 
must  first  draw  the  outline  before  he  can  color." 

Gustavo's  crayons  thus  gave  Kenny  a  new  and 
pleasant  employment,  and  Kenny  soon  became  eo 
fond  of  coloring,  and  such  an  adept  at  it,  that  one 
day  his  father  bought  him  a  paint-box  and  brushes. 


100  PICTURE    OF    A    COTTAGE. 

Kenny  was  delighted  with  this,  and  said  that  now 
he  could  do  painting,  sure  enough. 

"But  it  will  require  more  care,  Kenny,"  said 
his  father." 

"  Please  show  me  how  I  must  do,  sir." 

"  Well,  have  you  any  thing  you  want  painted  ?" 

Kenny  brought  a  picture  from  his  portfolio.  It 
was  one  of  the  first  pictures  his  father  had  drawn 
for  him — a  picture  of  a  cottage,  with  a  porch  to  it, 
a  large  tree,  and  under  the  tree  a  little  girl  feed 
ing  ducks  and  chickens.  It  was  one  of  his  fa 
vorite  pictures. 

"  Now  you  know,"  said  his  father,  "  what  color 
to  take  ;  I  will  simply  show  you  how  the  paint 
ing  is  to  be  done;  you  will  want  two  cups  of 
water." 

Kenny  brought  them. 

"  One  of  these,"  said  Mr.  Ellis,  "is  to  dip  your 
brush  in  to  moisten  it  before  you  rub  it  on  the 
paint ;  the  other  is  to  wash  your  brush  in  when 
you  have  done,  or  want  to  use  a  different  color. 
You  see,  it  would  not  do  to  put  your  brush  into 
one  color  while  it  was  full  of  another.  Here  are 
two  brushes.  The  larger  is  for  painting  large 
things,  the  smaller  fof  painting  what  is  small  and 
delicate." 

Mr.  Ellis  proceeded  to  paint  the  picture  which 
Kenny  had  brought ;  Kenny,  meanwhile,  looking 


BEAUTY    OF    THE    PICTURE.  101 

on  with  as  much  interest  as  when  his  father  had 
drawn  for  him  for  the  first  time.  Mr.  Ellis 
painted  the  blinds  of  the  house  and  the  leaves  of 
the  tree  green,  the  chickens  of  different  colors, 
and  the  little  girl  with  a  blue  hood  on  her  head. 
When  he  had  done,  Kenny  said  that  the  picture 
was  pretty  before,  but  that  it  was  ten  times  more 
BO  now. 

"  Kenny,"  said  his  father,  "  there  is  a  better 
way  to  get  the  paint  on  the  brush." 

"What  is  it?" 

"  Go  get  me  a  broken  piece  of  white  china,  or, 
if  you  cannot  find  that,  bring  a  white  saucer." 

Kenny  soon  returned  with  a  white  saucer,  which 
he  said,  his  mother  had  given  him  to  keep  as  long 
as  he  wanted.  He  said,  he  could  not  find  a  broken 
piece  any  where. 

Mr.  Ellis  took  a  piece  of  paint  from  the  box, 
dipped  one  end  of  it  in  water,  and  rubbed  the 
moistened  end  on  the  saucer.  It  left  a  beautiful 
red.  Then  he  did  the  same  with  each  piece  of 
paint.  When  he  had  done,  the  whole  of  the  out- 
lide  of  the  saucer  was  covered  with  different  colors. 
It  was  really  very  pretty. 

"  Now,"  said  Mr.  Ellis,  "  all  you  have  to  do  is 

to  moisten  the  end  of  your  brush,  and  touch  it  to 

the  paint  that  you  want  on  the  saucer.    You  need 

not  use  the  pieces  of  paint  any  more,  until  you 

9* 


102  THE    LITTLE    ARTIST. 


have  used  what  is  on  the  saucer,  and  then  I  will 
put  some  more  on  for  you." 

"  I  should  think,"  said  Kenny,  "  that  you  would 
have  put  the  paint  on  the  inside  of  the  saucer." 

"  No,  it  is  more  convenient  to  have  it  on  the 
outside.  Now,  Kenny,  carry  those  cups  to  Catha 
rine  to  be  washed,  and  put  the  drawing  materials 
away." 

From  this  time,  Kenny  became  quite  an  artist. 
In  fact,  an  old  gentleman  who  frequently  came  to 
his  father's,  gave  him  the  name  of  "The  Little 
Artist,"  and  he  was  called  by  it  afterwards.  He 
used  to  get  his  father  to  draw  pictures,  in  order 
that  he  might  paint  them,  and  he  would,  besides, 
draw  them  himself  for  this  purpose.  One  day 
Cousin  Guy  gave  him  an  old  geography,  full  of 
pictures.  This  was  a  treasure  to  Kenny,  and  many 
an  hour  did  he  spend  in  coloring  them,  and,  as  he 
asked  a  great  many  questions,  he  learned  not  only 
how  to  draw  and  paint,  but  much  that  was  inter 
esting  and  valuable  about  the  people,  productions, 
and  customs  of  different  countries.  Kenny  was 
also  in  the  habit  of  drawing  and  painting  real 
things  and  real  scenes. 

One  day  Cousin  Guy  found  Kenny  in  the  garden, 
seeming  to  be  looking  for  something. 

"  What  do  you  want,  Kenny  ?"  said  he. 

"  Some  vegetable  to  paint." 


PAINTING    A    TURNIP.  103 

"  Can  you  paint  a  vegetable  ?"  r 

"  Certainly." 

"Well,  then,  here  is  a  turnip ;  that  is  about  the 
only  vegetable  I  can  find  now.  You  had  better 
paint  it,  and  then  see  if  Gustave  will  know  what  it 
is  without  being  told.  That  will  be  a  good  test 
as  to  whether  the  painting  is  true  to  life ;  though 
not  as  good  as  one  I  have  heard." 

"What  is  that?" 

"  "Why,  a  man  painted  an  ear  of  corn,  and  it  was 
so  much  like  a  real  one  that  a  cow  who  came  along 
tried  to  eat  it." 

"That  was  funny." 

"  I  have  heard  of  another  case  similar.  A  painter 
made  a  cow  for  a  sign,  and  another  cow  '  mooed' 
to  it." 

"  I  don't  expect  to  make  my  painting  as  good  as 
that,  yet  awhile,  but  I  think  I  can  paint  this  turnip 
so  that  Gustave  will  know  it." 

"  "Well,  that  will  be  doing  very  well." 

Accordingly  Kenny  painted  away,  and,  when  he 
had  done,  carried  the  picture  to  Gustave.  Gus 
tave  immediately  said  that  it  was  a  vegetable  of 
some  kind,  and  he  thought  a  turnip. 

"  It  is  a  turnip,"  said  Kenny,  and  he  was  highly 
gratified  that  he  had  made  such  a  good  represent 
ation  that  Gustave  should  be  able  to  guess  what 
it  was. 


104         COUSIN    GUY    TEAZES    KENNY. 

Kenny  had  a  way,  after  this,  of  drawing  differ 
ent  things,  and  bringing  them  to  some  one  in  the 
family  to  guess  what  they  were.  Often  they  were 
very  good  representations,  and  could  not  be  mis 
taken.  But  sometimes  the  likeness  would  not  be 
very  clear,  and  the  picture  would  be  quite  grotesque. 

Occasionally,  too,  Cousin  Guy  would  pretend 
not  to  know  what  the  picture  was,  and  would 
guess  things  very  different  from  what  Kenny  in 
tended.  This  did  not  exactly  teaze  Kenny;  in 
fact,  he  enjoyed  it  as  much  as  any  one.  Some 
times  Cousin  Guy  really  would  not  know  what  the 
pictures  meant,  and  then,  when  he  would  seriously 
guess,  quite  out  of  the  way,  Kenny  would  seem 
really  annoyed. 

"  What  is  this,  Cousin  Guy  ?"  said  he,  one  day, 
handing  him  a  large  sheet  of  paper,  with  several 
figures  upon  it. 

"  This  ?  well,  let  me  see.  Why,  I  suppose  that 
man  is  shooting  at  those  others,  ain't  he  ?" 

"  O  !  Cousin  Guy,  that  is  too  bad." 

"What?" 

"To  say  that  is  a  man  shooting  some  other 
men." 

"  Well,  I'm  sure  I  don't  know.  You  asked  me 
to  guess ;  and  that  man  certainly  does  seem  to  be 
stretching  out  his  hand  toward  those  others." 

"  But,  Cousin  Guy,  he  has  nothing  in  his  hand, 


GUY'S    ADVICE    IN    DRAWING.          105 


and  don't  you  see  how  much  taller  he  is  than  those 
others  ?    They  are  not  men." 

"I  did  not  know;  some  men  are  taller  than 
)thers." 

"  Why,  Cousin  Guy,  that  is  Christ  blessing  little 
children.  Don't  you  see  he  is  holding  out  his 
hand  towards  them,  to  put  it  on  their  heads." 

"  Ah,  yes,  I  see  now.  But,  Kenny,  if  I  were 
you,  I  would  not  try  to  make  a  picture  of  Christ." 

"  No,  I  won't ;  but  why  not  ?" 

"Because  Jesus  Christ  is  too  sacred  a  being. 
You  cannot  make  any  thing  good  for  a  picture  of 
him.  I  do  not  like  pictures  of  the  Saviour,  even 
when  made  by  the  best  artists." 

Kenny  seemed  to  feel  the  force  of  this  reason, 
and  said  that  he  would  not  try  to  draw  the  Sa 
viour  any  more  ;  that  his  father  had  been  telling 
him  about  Christ's  blessing  little  children,  and  he 
thought  he  would  draw  it. 

But  all  this  suggested  to  Guy  an  idea  which  he 
afterwards  used,  and  which  will  be  given  a  little 
farther  on. 

There  was  one  funny  thing  about  Kenny's  treat 
ment  of  his  drawings  and  paintings  ; — he  always 
seemed  to  regard  them  as  real  things,  and  he 
would  speak  of  them,  and  think  of  them  as  such. 
Once,  he  came  to  Cousin  Guy's  room,  and  invited 
im  to  a  party. 


106  KENNY'S  PARTY. 


"  A  party  !"  said  Cousin  Guy  ;  "  who  are  to  be 
there?" 

"You,  and  father,  and  mother,  and  Frank,  I 
reckon." 

"  Well,  I  don't  think  I  can  go,  Kenny.  I  don't 
want  to  spoil  ray  appetite  for  dinner." 

"It  won't  do  that.  I  just  want  you  to  play 
eat." 

So  Cousin  Guy  went.  No  one  was  there  but 
Frank. 

"I  guess,"  said  Kenny,  "we  won't  wait  for 
father  and  mother.  I  will  have  another  for  them." 

So  Cousin  Guy  sat  down  to  the  centre-table, 
which  Kenny  had  spread,  and  pretended  to  eat. 

"  Take  some  of  these  strawberries,"  said  Kenny, 
handing  a  round  paper  full  of  little  red  pieces  of 
paper,  shaped  something  like  strawberries. 

"  Thank  you,"  said  Cousin  Guy,  "  I  am  very 
fond  of  strawberries.  But  I  did  not  know  they 
could  be  gotten  at  this  season." 

"  Oh !  I  can  get  them  at  any  time,"  said  Ken 
ny,  with  a  look  of  mock  gravity. 

Kenny  seemed  to  enjoy  the  entertainment  high 
ly,  and  even  Frank,  though  he  could  not  enjoy  all 
that  was  going  on,  entered  into  the  spirit  of  every 
thing. 

The  next  Sabbath  afternoon,  Kenny  wanted 
Cousin  Guy  to  tell  him  a  story;  but  Mr.  Ellis 


NOAH    AND    THE    ARK.  107 


said  that  would  not  do,  as  Cousin  Guy  had  enough 
work  to  do  in  preaching.  But  Cousin  Guy  said 
he  would  give  Kenny  something  to  do,  which 
would  be  very  pleasant  and  useful,  and  not  unsuit 
able  for  the  Sabbath. 

"What  is  it?"  asked  Kenny. 

"  Drawing  Scripture  scenes." 

"  Just  think  of  something  which  your  father  told 
you  from  the  Bible,  and  make  a  picture  of  it,  just 
as  you  drew,  the  other  day,  Christ  blessing  little 
children." 

"  O,  that  will  be  very  fine  I  "What  shall  I 
draw?" 

"  I Vill  tell  you  some  scenes,  and  you  can  decide 
which  you  would  like  best." 

"Well?" 

.  "  There  is  the  Egyptians  and  Israelites  crossing 
the  Eed  Sea.    Have  you  heard  about  that  ?" 

"Yes,  indeed." 

"Do  you  like  that?" 

"  I  like  it,  but  I  do  not  think  I  could  draw  it." 

"  I  will  give  you  another.  Noah  taking  the 
animals  into  the  ark." 

"  I  will  draw  that." 

And  soon  Kenny  was  busy  at  the  picture,  every 
low  and  then  bringing  it  to  Cousin  Guy  with  some 
question.  Cousin  Guy  was  lying  on  the  lounge, 
lot  reading,  nor  trying  to  sleep,  but  simply  rest- 


108  COUSIN  GUY'S  STORY. 


ing,  and  he  told  Mr.  Ellis  that  Kenny  did  not 
trouble  him  in  the  least ;  that,  in  fact,  he  liked  to 
talk  a  little  with  him.  When  the  picture  was  done, 
and  admired,  Kenny  said : 

"  Cousin  Guy,  I  am  much  obliged  to  you  for 
showing  me  what  to  do,  just  now.  But  I  think  it 
is  right  hard  for  me  not  to  be  allowed  to  play  at 
all  on  the  Sabbath." 

""Why,  Kenny  1"  exclaimed  Mrs.  Ellis,  u  how  can 
you  talk  so  ?"  She  seemed  really  shocked.  But 
Cousin  Guy,  without  seeming  to  hear  Kenny's  re 
mark,  simply  said : 

"  I  will  tell  you  a  short  story  now,  Kenny." 

"I'm  glad  of  it." 

"  There  was  once  a  traveller  going  to  town.  Ht 
had  exactly  seven  dollars  in  his  pocket.  A  beggai 
met  him,  and  told  him  such  a  pitiful  story  that  he 
took  out  six  dollars  and  ga^e  them  to  the  beggar, 
keeping  only  one  for  himself.  Wasn't  that  kind  ?" 

"  Very,"  said  Kenny,  emphatically. 

"  Presently  the  beggar  said  to  himself,"  contin 
ued  Cousin  Guy,  "  I  wish  I  had  that  other  dollar," 
and  finally  he  decided  that  he  would  have  it,  and 
overtook  the  traveller,  knocked  him  down  with  a 
stick,  and  took  the  dollar  from  his  pocket.  What 
do  you  think  of  that?" 

"I  think  it  was  mean,  shameful.  That  man 
ought  to  be  hung." 


KENNY    SURPRISED.  109 


"  Kenny,"  said  Cousin  Guy,  quietly,  "  you  are 
something  like  that  mean  robber." 

"  I !"  said  Kenny,  in  utter  astonishment.  "  "Why, 
what  do  you  mean,  Cousin  Guy  ?" 

"  God  made  seven  days  in  the  week ;  he  gave 
you  six  of  them,  and  kept  only  one  for  himself,  and 
yet  just  now  you  wanted  to  take  that  one  also." 

Kenny  said  not  a  word.  But  he  felt  deeply  the 
folly  of  the  remark,  which  had  called  out  Cousin 
Guy's  story,  and  getting  down  from  the  lounge, 
where  he  had  been  sitting,  he  quietly  and  thought 
fully  walked  away. 
10 


110  COUSIN    GUY'S    DIARY. 


CHAPTER  Y. 

THE    DIARY. 

ONE  day  Kenny  was  in  Cousin  Guy's  room, 
standing  by  Cousin  Guy  while  he  was  writing. 
Kenny  amused  himself  looking  at  various  things 
on  the  table.  Presently  he  took  a  little  red  book 
with  gilt  edges,  and  gilt  letters  on  the  back,  and, 
holding  it  up,  said : 

"  Cousin  Guy,  what  is  this  ?" 

"  That,"  said  Cousin  Guy,  looking  up,  "  that  is 
my  diary." 

"Diary!    What  is  a  diary «" 

"  I  am  busy,  Kenny,  and  have  not  time  to  ex 
plain  it  to  you  now." 

"Will  you,  if  I  wait?" 

"  Yes,  if  you  wait  till  I  am  done  these  letters." 

Kenny  accordingly  took  his  seat,  and  com 
menced  to  draw  something.  After  a  while,  Cousin 
Guy  looked  at  his  watch,  and  said  he  would  not 
write  any  more  at  present. 

"  Have  you  done  ?"  inquired  Kenny. 


DESCRIPTION    OF    A    DIARY.  Ill 


"  No,  but  the  time  is  come  for  me  to  stop.  It 
is  almost  dinner  time,  and  I  always  like  to  stop 
work  a  little  while  before  dinner.  It  is  healthy." 

"  Now,  then,  won't  you  tell  me  about  this  little 
book?" 

"  It  is  a  diary — a  blank  book,  in  which  some 
thing  is  to  be  written  every  day." 

"  What  sort  of  things  ?" 

"  Sometimes  people  write  an  account  of  how 
they  spend  their  time ;  sometimes  they  write  their 
feelings.  In  some  cases,  they  write  down,  before 
hand,  what  they  wish  to  do.  This,  you  see,  has 
a  blank  space  for  every  day  in  the  year.  Now, 
suppose  I  promise  to  pay  some  money,  or  make  a 
visit,  or  dd  any  other  thing,  on  some  future  day ; 
in  order  not  to  forget  it,  I  turn  over  to  the  blank 
for  that  day,  and  there  write  it  down.  And  as  I 
look  at  the  diary  every  day,  I  will  see  the  memo 
randum,  and  be  reminded.  For  instance,  I  am 
appointed  to  preach  at  the  House  of  Refuge  on 
the  28th  day  of  May,  several  weeks  off,  and  I 
might  forget  it ;  but  I  have  put  it  down  on  the 
page  for  that  day.  See,  here  it  is,  '  Sabbath,  28th 
of  May,  preach  at  the  House  of  Refuge.'  Now,  I 
cannot  forget  it.  But  the  principal  use  of  a  diary 
is  to  record  not  things  which  are  to  be,  but  those 
which  have  already  occurred.  Here,  now,  if  you 
want,  I  will  read  you  something  from  my  diary." 


112  EXTRACTS    FROM    A    DIARY. 


"  I  wish  you  would." 

"  I  will  read  from  last  "Wednesday's  page." 

"  '  Directly  after  breakfast  went  down  town  in 
the  carriage,  and  attended  to  several  items  of 
business.  After  returning,  spent  the  balance  of  the 
morning  in  reading  twenty  pages  of  '  Mosheim's 
Church  History,'  writing  letters  to  father  and 
John  Henderson,  and  talking  with  Kenny.  In 
the  afternoon,  accompanied  by  Kenny,  went  to  the 
Orphan  Asylum,  preached  from  Song  of  Solomon, 
2d  chap,  and  15th  verse  ;  afterwards  went  over 
the  buildings.  At  night  sat  in  the  study  with  Mr. 
Ellis  and  Cousin  Sue,  talking  with  them,  and 
writing  on  my  book.  The  weather  to-day  bright 
and  pleasant,  and  I  have  felt  very  well,  and  have 
been  able  to  do  a  great  deal,  so  that  the  day  has 
been  a  happy,  and,  I  hope,  a  profitable  one.' 

"  Now  I  will  read  you  the  history  of  day  before 
yesterday  ;  that  was  Monday,  you  know. 

"  '  "Waked  to  find  it  a  damp,  dark  day,  myself 
suffering  with  a  dull  headache,  and  a  general  good- 
for-nothing  feeling.  On  account  of  the  weather 
spent  the  whole  day  within  doors,  but  unable  to 
accomplish  much.  Found  it  hard  to  be  cheerful 
and  event  patient,  but  found  some  relief  in  prayer. 


WHAT    DIARIES    ARE    FOR.  113 

Retired  early,  hoping  to  feel  brighter  and  more 
like  work  after  a  good  night's  rest.' 

"Well,  Kenny,  these  are  some  specimens  from 
my  diary.  What  do  you  think  of  them  ?" 

"  They  are  quite  interesting.  But,  Cousin  Guy, 
why  do  people  keep  diaries  ?" 

"  Well,  it  is  pleasant  to  remember  how  we  have 
spent  our  time." 

"But  Zcan  remember,  cousin,  without  writing 
it  down." 

"  You  may  remember  for  a  few  days,  but  not 
long.  I  can  remember  now  all  about  last  Wed 
nesday,  and  last  Monday,  but  I  should  forget  it, 
after  a  while,  if  I  did  not  write  it  down.  I  cannot 
remember  at  all  what  I  was  doing  a  year  ago  at 
this  time ;  but,  as  I  kept  a  diary  then,  I  can  easily 
find  out.  But  you  have  forgotten  all  about  last 
year,  and  have  no  means  of  finding  out." 

"What  were  you  doing  a  year  ago  to-day, 
cousin  ?  I  should  like  to  know,  just  for  the  curio 
sity  of  the  thing." 

Cousin  Guy  opened  his  desk,  and,  from  a  pigeon 
hole  where  there  were  several  little  books  like  the 
one  from  which  he  had  been  reading,  took  the  top 
most  one,  and,  after  turning  over  the  leaves,  ex 
claimed  :  "  Why,  Kenny,  a  year  ago  to-day  I  was 
examined  in  Latin." 
10* 


114r      PLEASURE    IN    KEEPING    A    DIARY. 


"  What  do  you  mean  by  that  ?" 

"  You  know  I  was  a  student  at  the  university, 
and  twice  a  year  the  students  are  examined  on 
each  study  ;  that  is,  they  are  asked  questions,  to 
see  whether  they  are  really  learning.  Just  a  year 
ago  I  was  examined  in  Latin." 

"  Tell  me  about  it." 

"  The  bell  rang  at  eight  o'clock  in  the  morning, 
and  we  all  had  to  go  to  the  lecture-room,  carrying 
nothing  but  some  paper,  pens,  and  ink.  "We  found 
the  large  blackboard  full  of  questions,  and  we  just 
had  to  sit  down  and  write  the  answers  to  them.  It 
took  me,  this  time,  nearly  the  whole  day.  Oh !  I 
was  so  tired.  Heading  about  it  in  my  diary  has 
made  it  all  seem  fresh,  as  if  it  were  but  yesterday. 
Just  in  the  same  way,  I  could  look  back,  and  find 
.out  the  history  of  any  day  for  several  years  past. 
So  you  see,  Kenny,  there  is  a  great  pleasure  in 
keeping  a  diary.  There  are  other  advantages  be 
sides.  By  looking  back  on  the  past,  we  see  the 
goodness  of  God  in  bringing  us  along,  and  so  have 
our  gratitude  awakened.  "We  see  our  mistakes 
and  faults  in  the  past,  and  may  correct  them.  We 
see  how  we  have  come  safely  through  difficulties, 
and  so  we  are  encouraged  in  present  difficulties  to 
keep  up  a  brave  heart,  and  press  on.  And  then, 
in  keeping  a  diary,  there  is  this  advantage  at  the 
time,  that  it  makes  us  more  careful  of  our  conduct 


sA.N    EXCELLENT    PLAN.  115 


to  know  that  we  are  going  to  write  it  down,  to  be 
read  in  after  days  and  years.  I  would  not  like  to 
waste  this  morning,  if  I  expected  to  write  it  down 
in  my  diary.  I  know  that  keeping  a  diary  has 
made  me  more  careful  in  my  conduct." 

"I  think  keeping  a  diary  an  excellent  plan," 
said  Kenny. 

"There  is  still  another  advantage,"  continued 
Cousin  Guy.  "It  leads  one  to  take  a  little  exer 
cise  in  writing  regularly  every  day,  and  as  there 
is  generally  not  much  room  to  write  in,  one  is  apt 
to  write  in  a  very  concise  style.  I  mean  by  that, 
to  say  a  good  deal  in  a  few  words.  You  see  any 
one  could  get  a  large  blank  book,  and  take  just 
as  muck  room  as  he  wanted  for  each  day;  but 
most  persons  now  use  these  little  pocket  diaries, 
which  have  a  certain  space  set  apart  for  each 
day." 

"  I  should  think  a  person  would  have  more  to 
write  some  days  than  others." 

"  That  is  true.  Some  days  I  do  not  write  more 
than  one  or  two  lines.  But  I  seldom  want  to  fill 
more  than  the  allotted  space.  I  do  not  approve 
of  long  spun-out  histories.  You  eee,  I  am  not 
writing  for  any  body  else  to  read,  and  a  few  words 
will  be  sufficient  to  enable  me  to  recall  all  that  I 
wish.  Do  you  understand  ?" 

"  O,  yes." 


116  MY  GRANDCHILDREN! 

"  How  would  it  do  for  you  to  keep  a  diary, 
Kenny  ?" 

"  I  should  like  it  very  much,  if  I  could  do  it  ?" 

"  I  kept  one  when  I  was  a  very  little  boy.  I 
remember  writing  about  seeing  a  comet.  I  could 
hardly  write." 

"  But  I  can't  write." 

"  No  ;  but  I  will  write  for  you.  You  can  tell 
me  what  to  write,  and  I  will  put  down  exactly 
what  you  say." 

"  Well,  I  shall  like  it  very  much.  Let  us  begin 
at  once." 

"  Some  days  there  will  not  be  so  much  to  put 
down.  Others  will  be  very  interesting.  It  would 
be  very  pleasant  for  you — when  a  man — to  read 
about  going  to  the  asylum  with  Cousin  Guy,  and 
hearing  a  sermon  about  fox-hunting." 

"  I  am  very  sorry  I  did  not  begin  in  time  for 
that." 

"  Oh,  well,  you  can  put  it  in  now,  and  all  about 
the  balloon,  too.  It  will  be  very  fine  for  your 
grandchildren  to  read,  when  you  are  an  old  man." 

"  My  grandchildren  !  what  an  idea  !" 

"  Or  your  children." 

"My  children!" 

"  Yes,  I  have  no  doubt  that  they  would  be  very 
much  interested  in  knowing  how  their  father  did 
when  he  was  a  little  boy.  I  should  love  very 


WHAT    IS    MANUSCRIPT?  117 


much  to  read  a  diary  kept  by  my  father  in  his 
boyish  days.  I  would  rather  have  a  few  pages  of 
his  childish  manuscript  than  the  handsomest  book 
in  Baltimore." 

"  "What  is  manuscript  ?" 

"Something  written  with  the  hand,  as  distin 
guished  from  what  is  printed.  For  instance,  this 
diary  or  those  letters  are  manuscript." 

"  I  do  know  a  good  deal  about  my  father  when 
he  was  a  boy,  and  if  interests  me  very  much.  He 
often  tells  me  stories  about  what  he  did  when  he 
was  little." 

"I  have  read  some  in  a  diary  kept  by  my 
father,  when  he  was  a  young  man  like  myself.  It 
contains  a  good  many  incidents  and  adventures 
that  he-  met  with.  But  come,  Kenny,  there  is  the 
dinner-bell." 

"  Didn't  you  say  you  were  writing  a  book  ?" 

"Yes." 

"  Will  it  be  done  soon  ?" 

"Not  very." 

"  Will  I  understand  it  ?" 

"I  reckon  so — I  hope  so;  it  is  written  about 
boys,  and  for  them." 

"  Has  it  any  thing  in  it  about  me  ?" 

To  this  question,  Cousin  Guy  returned  no  an 
swer  but  a  smile,  and  Kenny  said : 

"  I  know  it  has,  I  am  almost  sure  it  has." 


118  KENNY'S  ACCIDENT. 

At  the  dinner-table  Kenn y  told  his  father  and 
mother  that  he  was  going  to  have  a  diary,  and  that 
Cousin  Guy  was  going  to  keep  it  for  him.  His 
father  not  only  said  it  was  a  good  plan,  but  prom 
ised  to  give  him  a  blank  book  for  the  purpose. 

That  very  afternoon  Kenny  had  a  little  adven 
ture,  which,  was  recorded  in  his  diary.  The  record 
of  the  day  was  as  follows  : 

"  April  6th.  Decided  to-day  to  keep  a  diary. 
I  am  going  to  tell  Cousin  Guy  what  to  write,  and 
he  is  to  write  it  for  me.  This  afternoon  I  had  the 
following  adventure : — I  walked  with  Catharine 
and  Frank  to  Aunt  Lucy's,  where  I  had  a  very 
pleasant  time  playing  with  Johnny  Nourse.  While 
we  were  there,  it  rained  very  hard,  but  it  cleared 
off  just  before  night,  and  Catharine,  and  Frank,  and 
I,  started  home.  We  found  the  streets  very  wet, 
and  some  of  the  gutters  almost  like  little  rivers,  and 
we  coul(f  hardly  get  across.  At  one  of  the  cross 
ing-placet,  Catharine  was  carrying  Frank  over  and 
leading  me,  when  my  foot  slipped,  and  I  fell  into 
the  deep,  muddy  water.  It  was  very  cold,  and,  be 
sides,  I  was  afraid  I  would  be  drowned ;  so  I 
screamed  as  loud  as  I  could.  Just  then  Gustave, 
who  had  been  sent  after  us,  drove  up  with  the 
carriage,  and  carried  us  home.  I  was  very  cold, 
but  mother  soon  took  off  my  wet  clothes,  wrapped 


COUSIN    GUY    VISITS    KENNY.  119 

me  up  in  flannel,  put  me  to  bed,  and  gave  me  some 
hot  tea,  and  I  now  feel  very  comfortable,  and  hope 
I  shall  not  be  sick.  I  am  glad  to  have  something 
to  put  into  my  diary  so  soon." 

This  was  written  by  Cousin  Guy,  while  Kenny 
was  lying  in  bed.  It  happened  in  this  way: — 
Kenny  was  very  much  frightened  after  he  got 
home  and  was  put  to  bed ;  and  so  were  his  father 
and  mother,  at  first,  thinking  he  would  be  sick. 
Cousin  Guy  came  up  to  his  room,  and,  seeing  Ken 
ny  so  low-spirited,  said :  "  "Well,  Kenny,  it  wasn't 
pleasant  to  fall  into  the  water,  I  know,  but  it  is  a 
first-rate  adventure  to  put  into  your  diary.  Come, 
now,  your  father  has  j  ust  given  me  a  book  to  write 
in,  and  I'll  begin  right  now." 

Kenny  brightened  up,  and  proceeded  to  tell 
Cousin  Guy  all  about  his  accident,  and,  before  he 
was  done,  he  was  in  the  highest  glee. 

The  next  morning  Kenny  was  as  well  and  bright 
as  if  nothing  had  happened,  and  rather  glad  to  have 
had  such  an  adventure  for  his  diary.  Cousin  Guy 
told  him  that  he  was  not  the  first  person,  who  had 
found  that  a  thing  might  be  very  unpleasant  in 
experience,  and  yet  even  pleasant  to  remember  or 
describe. 

"  I  remember,"  said  he,  "  being  lost  on  the  moun 
tains  once,  and  spending  nearly  the  whole  night 


120       WHAT    TO    PUT    IN    THE    DIAEY. 

wandering  about.  It  was  one  of  the  most  miser 
able  seasons  I  ever  experienced ;  but  I  have  often 
since  taken  great  pleasure  in  recalling  and  relating 
the  adventure." 

\ "  I  wish  you  could  tell  me." 

"  I  will  presently." 

During  the  morning  Cousin  Guy  "  wrote  up' 
Kenny's  diary  to  the  time  he  commenced  to  keep 
it,  giving  a  general  account  of  his  doings  for  some 
time,  including  his  artist  employments,  the  history 
of  the  balloon,  and  several  trips  which  he  made 
with  his  father  and  Cousin  Guy.  When  this  writ 
ing  was  done,  Cousin  Guy  told  Kenny  to  bring  the 
diary  to  him  every  night  just  before  going  to  bed. 

"And,  Kenny,"  continued  he,  "you  must  deter 
mine  what  to  put  down.  Will  you  tell  about 
your  behavior,  or  only  the  things  that  you  do, 
and  that  happen  to  you  ?" 

"All,  I  believe." 

"  Well,  then,  you  must  try  to  be  very  good ;  for, 
you  know,  if  we  say  any  thing  on  a  subject,  we 
must  tell  the  truth,  and  it  would  be  very  unpleas 
ant  for  yourself,  or  any  one  else,  to  read  hereafter 
about  your  quarrelling  with  Frank,  or  abusing 
Catharine,  or  any  thing  of  that  sort."  . 

"  O,  me !  I  hope  nothing  of  that  sort  will  get 
into  my  diary." 

"  Now,  Kenny,"  said  his  cousin,  "  I  will  tell  you 


GUY'S    ADVENTUEE.  121 

about  my  being  lost  on  the  mountains.  It  is  not 
much  of  a  story ;  but  it  is,  of  course,  interesting  to 
me.  Well,  I  was  once  staying  with  some  friends 
in  the  mountains  of  Virginia.  It  was  quite  a  wild, 
lonesome  place.  One  afternoon  I  was  particularly 
anxious  to  go  to  the  post-office,  which  was  six  miles 
off." 

"  "Why  did  you  want  to  go  ?" 

"  My  father  was  sick  at  home,  and  I  wanted  to 
get  a  letter,  telling  me  how  he  was.  The  horses 
were  all  busy  ploughing,  so  I  said  I  would  walk. 
I  readily  found  my  way  to  the  office." 

"  Did  you  get  a  letter  from  home  ?" 

"  No,  I  did  not  get  any  thing  at  all,  and  I  felt 
very  much  disappointed.  The  sun  was  just  setting 
as  I  started  home.  I  concluded  to  try  a  short  cut 
over  the  mountain,  instead  of  going  by  the  regular 
road.  Accordingly,  I  took  a  small  path,  as  I  had 
been  directed,  and  pursued  my  way  along  the  steep 
mountain  side.  For  a  while  I  went  on  finely,  but 
at  length  my  path  became  steep  and  rough,  and 
I  began  to  fear  I  was  wrong.  I  ran  hurriedly 
along  to  find  out,  as  soon  as  possible,  whether  I 
was  indeed  lost.  My  path  grew  steeper  and 
rougher,  and  began  to  lead  me  right  up  to  a 
rocky  cliff,  so  that  I  was  convinced  that  I  was  on 
the  wrong  track.  Here  it  would  have  been  wise 
for  me  at  once  to  retrace  my  steps  ;  but  I  thought 
11 


122        GUY    LOST    ON    THE    MOUNTAIN. 


I  had  not  time  for  that,  as  it  was  now  getting  late. 
So  I  immediately  struck  off  into  the  woods,  in  the 
direction  which  I  supposed  would  take  me  back 
into  the  right  path.  I  soon  found,  however,  that 
this  was  no  easy  matter.  It  began  to  get  quite 
dark,  and  the  way  was  all  stopped  up  with  brush, 
and  thick  foliage.  Before  long,  I  had  made  up 
my  mind  that  I  was  fairly  lost." 

"Did'nt  you  feel  frightened?" 

"  Not  frightened  exactly,  but  it  certainly  was 
not  very  pleasant  to  think  of  staying  all  night 
alone  on  the  mountain,  and  I  began  to  fear  I 
would  have  that  to  do." 

"Well,  what  did  you  do?" 

"  I  kept  on,  moving  as  rapidly  as  I  could,  and 
shouting  with  all  my  might.  At  last,  I  thought 
I  heard  a  shout  in  reply.  I  shouted  again  and 
again,  moving  on  towards  where  I  thought  the 
sound  came  from.  Presently  I  distinctly  heard  a 
man  halloo  in  answer  to  me.  It  was,  however,  a 
long  way  off.  I  determined  to  make  my  way 
towards  him,  although  it  was  not  in  the  direction 
I  thought  I  ought  to  go  to  take  me  where  I  was 
staying.  I  felt  that  it  would  be  a  great  relief  to 
see  a  human  face,  and  then,  besides,  I  thought  I 
could,  perhaps,  get  the  man  to  show  me  the  way. 
So  I  kept  on,  shouting  every  moment,  and  walking 
and  running  in  the  direction  from  which  his  voice 


"WHAT  is  A  BACHELOR?"        123 


seemed  to  come.  I  climbed  to  the  top  of  the 
mountain,  and  then  commenced  descending  on 
the  other  side,  which  I  knew  was  not  the  side 
where  my  friends  lived.  At  the  foot  of  the  moun 
tain  was  a  rail-fence.  I  kept  along  that  to  a  corn 
field,  and  then  through  the  corn-field,  till  I  heard 
a  dog  bark,  and  saw  the  smoke  of  a  chimney.  I 
felt  now  that  I  was  probably  out  of  my  worst 
trouble.  I  got  to  the  house,  and  the  man  who 
had  been  shouting  to  me,  came  out  to  meet  me. 
The  first  thing  that  I  did,  was  to  ask  him  for  some 
water  :  my  mouth  was  parched  with  thirst.  Then 
I  asked  him  to  show  me  the  way  to  the  place  where 
I  wanted  to  go.  He  urged  me  to  stay  all  night, 
but  I  told  him  no,  I  must  go  back  home,  as  they 
would  be  very  uneasy  about  me.  So  he  said  he 
would  go  with  me  part  of  the  way.  He  went  with 
me  for  some  distance,  and  then  said  he  could  not 
go  any  further.  So  he  gave  me  directions  about 
the  course  I  must  take,  and  after  I  had  given  him 
some  money  he  left  me.  I  went  on,  feeling  badly, 
but  quite  excited,  as  I  made  my  way  through 
bushes,  and  over  rocks,  and  across  little  streams. 
My  guide  had  told  me  that  I  would  pass  the  cabin 
of  an  old  bachelor." 

"  What  is  a  bachelor  ?" 

"  A  man  who  is  not  married.  But  are  you 
iterested,  Kenny  ?" 


124:          THE  BACHELOR'S  HOUSE. 


"  Yes,  indeed,  an  old  bachelor — " 

"  An  old  bachelor,  who  lived  all  alone ;  he 
would  direct  me,  or  send  somebody  with  me  to 
show  me  the  way,  or  I  could  stay  all  night  at  his 
house." 

"  But,  cousin,  how  could  he  send  somebody 
with  you,  if  he  lived  all  alone  ?" 

"  He  had  servants.  I  meant  that  he  did  not 
have  any  family,  any  body  in  the  house  with  him." 

«  Oh,  yes." 

"  Pretty  soon,  I  came  to  a  clearing,  that  is,  an 
open  place,  where  the  woods  had  been  cut  off  and 
cleared  away.  All  this  time  I  had  been  in  the 
thick  woods." 

"  Was  it  dark  ?" 

"  Not  very,  the  moon  was  full,  and  was  shining 
bright." 

"  As  soon  as  I  came  to  the  clearing,  I  knew, 
from  the  description  my  guide  had  given  me,  that- 
I  was  near  the  old  bachelor's  house.  I  kept  on, 
and  presently  came  to  it.  All  was  very  still.  I 
have  often  wondered  since  that  the  dogs  did  not 
bark,  and  try  to  bite  me,  as  I  heard  afterwards 
there  were  some  very  fierce  ones  there.  I  went 
to  the  door,  and-  found  it  wide  open.  I  knocked, 
and  heard  a  voice  from  a  bed  in  the  room  saying, 
*  Who's  there  ?'  I  answered,  '  A  traveller  who  i8 
lost.  I  want  to  get  some  one  to  show  me  the  way 


COUSIN"    GUY    AND    THE    BACHELOR.      125 


to  Mrs.  Smith's.  He  replied,  { ()  it's  too  far — it's 
four  miles  from  here.  Stay  all  night,  and  go  home 
in  the  morning.'  I  looked  at  my  watch,  by  the 
moon,  and  found  out  it  was  nearly  mid-night,  so  I 
told  him  I  would  stay.  '  Well,'  said  he,  'there's  ano 
ther  bed  in  the  room,  find  it  and  get  in.'  He  did 
not  get  up  at  all.  So  I  felt  about,  and  presently 
found  the  bed.  There  was  a  gun  on  it  and  a  bag 
of  dried  peaches.  I  took  them  off,  and  laid  down." 
"  "Wasn't  you  afraid,  cousin  ?  Did  you  sleep  ?" 
"  !Nb,  I  wasn't  at  all  afraid.  At  first,  I  was  too 
tired  to  sleep,  and  amused  myself  looking  at  the 
stars  through  the  cracks  in  the  roof,  but  presently, 
I  went  to  sleep  and  slept  soundly." 

"  I  did  not  know  being  tired  ever  kept  people 
from  going  to  sleep.  I  should  think  it  would 
make  them  sleep." 

"  So  it  does,  except  when  they  are  very  tired, 
indeed,  so  as  to  feel  uncomfortable.  Then  they 
are  apt  to  be  restless,  and  turn  over  and  over, 
instead  of  going  to  sleep." 

"  Well,  you  have  not  finished  the  story." 
"The  next  morning  when  I  awoke,  there  was 
no   one   in    the    room.      I    got    up,    and  looked 
around,  but  could  not  find  the  old  man  any  where. 
Then  I  went  out,  and  asked  a  servant,  who  told 
me  he  had  gone  to  the  mill.     So  I  got  her  to  tell  me 
the  way,  and  I  started  home,  as  I  was  very  anxious 
11* 


126  MORAL    OF    GUY'S    STORY. 


to  get  back.  Only  think,  I  staid  all  night  at  a 
man's  house,  without  seeing  him,  or  his  seeing  me. 
Wasn't  that  funny  ?" 

"  Funny  enough." 

"  I  got  home  to  breakfast.  The  family  had  felt 
a  little  anxious  about  me,  but  had  concluded  that 
I  had  staid  all  night  at  the  post-office.  They  were 
very  much  interested  in  my  adventure,  but  blamed 
the  old  man  very  much  for  not  getting  up,  to  give 
me  some  supper  and  a  light.  They  said  they 
knew  him,  and  would  give  him  a  good  scolding. 
All  that  day,  I  felt  very  tired  and  stiff,  but  that 
was  about  all  the  harm  that  came  from  my  being 
lost  on  the  mountain.  And  now,  that  is  all  the 
story." 

"  A  very  fine  story." 

"  But  you  haven't  heard  the  moral  of  the  story." 

"  "What  do  you  mean  by  the  moral  ?" 

"  The  lesson  you  are  to  learn.  This  story  teaches 
that  a  person  should  be  careful  not  to  try  to  go  a 
short  cut  through  the  mountains,  unless  he  knows 
the  way,  but  to  keep  the  main  road.  It  illustrates 
also  another  thing  that  I  told  you,  that  an  adventure 
may  be  disagreable  at  the  time,  and  yet  rather 
pleasant  to  remember  or  tell  about  afterwards." 

"  I  am  sure,  Cousin  Guy,  I  am  very  glad  you 
had  this  adventure,  as  it  was  the  means  of  getting 
me  a  first-rate  story." 


GUSTAVE.  127 


CHAPTER   VI. 

THE  GREENHOUSE. 


USTAYE  was  a  German.  He  was  an  excel- 
lent  gardener,  not  only  of  vegetables,  but  of 
flowers.  He  had  gone  to  school,  and  had  learned 
all  about  gardening;  he  knew  the  names  of  all 
kinds  of  plants,  and  how  to  raise  them,  and  was 
very  fond  of  his  work,  and  of  telling  about  it  to  any 
of  the  family,  who  would  come  out  and  talk  with 
him  while  he  was  working.  Mr.  Ellis  had  not 
always  lived  at  the  place  where  he  now  did.  He 
had  formerly  lived  in  the  city.  When  he  came 
out  to  this  place,  he  employed  Gustave  to  take 
care  of  the  horse  and  cow,  and  to  work  in  the  gar 
den,  and  .lay  off  the  ground  into  beds  and  paths. 
Gustave  had  done  this  work  well,  and  as  he  was 
quite  pleasant,  Mr.  Ellis  and  all  the  family  liked 
him  very  much.  Gustave  had  planted  a  great 
many  flowers,  and  made  frames  for  them,  and 
very  often  he  would  tie  up  a  handsome  bouquet 
of  flowers,  and  carry  them  to  Mrs.  Ellis. 


128      GUSTAVE    TYING    UP    THE    PLANTS. 


One  day  after  dinner,  Mr.  Ellis  and  Cousin  Guy 
and  Kenny,  were  walking  in  the  garden,  admiring 
the  beautiful  ^flowers,  and  talking.  Presently  they 
came  to  where  Gustave  was  at  work.  He  had  a 
wheelbarrow  full  of  straw  which  he  was  unloading. 

"  What  is  that,  Gustave  ?"  said  Mr.  Ellis,  "  what 
are  you  doing  ?" 

"I  am  going  to  tie  up  these  little  bushes  with 
straw,  sir,  so  that  the  frost  will  not  kill  them." 

And  Gustave  went  on,  and  put  some  straw  all 
around  a  bush,  and  tied  a  string  round  it  at  the 
top,  and  at  the  bottom,  so  that  the  bush  could  not 
be  seen  at  all ;  nothing  but  the  straw  appeared. 

"Now,  that  one  will  be  nice  and  warm,"  said 
Gustave,  as  he  proceeded  to  tie  up  another  in  the 
same  way. 

"  But,  Gustave,"  said  Mr.  Ellis,  "  can  you  tie  up 
all  the  plants  in  that  way  ?" 

"  No,  sir." 

"Well,  then,  will  they  die?" 

"  Yes,  sir ;  unless  there  was  a  greenhouse." 

"  That  is  a  pity." 

"  Yes,  sir,  it  is  a  pity.  I  hate  to  lose  all  these 
geraniums,  that  I  have  taken  so  much  pains  with." 

"  I  suppose  you  can  raise  new  ones  next  spring." 

"  Yes,  sir,  but  it  takes  a  good  while,  so  that  the 
summer  is  half  over  before  they  gel  to  be  pretty. 
And  then,  besides,  I  shall  not  have  enough  to  employ 


PLAN    OF    A    GKEENHOUSE.  129 


me  in  the  winter,  unless  I  can  keep  the  flowers  in 
some  way.  I  am  trying  to  keep  a  few  in  the  stable 
loft ;  but  it  is  rather  a  poor  chance.  I  wish  you 
would  have  a  greenhouse,  Mr.  Ellis ;  you  could 
have  a  small  one,  and  it  need  not  cost  much." 

Mr.  Ellis  said  he  had  not  intended  to  have  a 
greenhouse,  but  he  would  think  about  it. 

The  next  day  Gustave  knocked  at  the  door  of 
Mr.  Ellis's  study,  and  when  Mr.  Ellis  invited  him 
in,  and  asked  him  what  he  wanted,  he  took  a  roll 
of  papers  out  of  his  pocket,  and  said : 

"You  were  speaking,  sir,  of  having  a  green 
house,  and  I  have  drawn  the  plan  of  one,  which  I 
thought  I  would  show  you." 

So  Gustave  unrolled  the  papers,  and  laid  them 
before  Mr.  Ellis  upon  the  desk.  There  were  four 
papers.  One  contained  a  ground-plan,  as  it  is 
called,  showing  the  figure  on  the  ground,  which 
the  house  would  make;  another  gave  the  front, 
and  another  the  end ;  while  the  fourth  was  quite 
a  handsome  picture,  representing  the  whole  green 
house.  The  first  three  of  these  were  drawn  with 
ink  and  crayons,  and  had  the  doors  and  windows 
marked  out,  and  the  dimensions  indicated.  The 
picture  was  painted  in  colors,  and  was  aloaost 
pretty  enough  to  be  framed. 

Mr.  Ellis  looked  at  the  papers,  and  seemed 
pleased. 


130  GUSTAVE'S  PLANS. 

"  Why,  Gustave,"  said  he,  "  where  did  you  get 
these?" 

"I  drew  them,  sir," 

"  They  are  done  very  well.  I  did  not  know  you 
could  draw." 

"  Yes,  sir ;  we  all  learned  at  the  school  I  went  to 
in  Germany." 

Gustave  was  much  gratified  at  the  compli 
ment. 

"Well,  Gustave,"  continued  Mr.  Ellis,  "I  will 
keep  these  papers,  and  find  out  how  much  a  green 
house  like  this  can  be  built  for." 

"There  are  two  Germans,  friends  of  mine,  sir,  who 
want  the  job,  and  will  do  it  cheaper  than  any  one 
you  will  get.  May  I  ask  them  to  come  to  see  you 
about  it?" 

"  Yes,  I  wish  you  would." 

Cousin  Guy  came  in  and  looked  at  the  papers, 
and  asked  Gustave  what  was  that  shed  behind  the 
Greenhouse.  Gustave  said  that  it  made  the  house 
look  better,  and  that  part  of  the  shed  would  be  used 
for  keeping  tools  and  pots,  and  part  of  it  would  be 
used  for  a  fireplace  by  which  to  warm  the  house. 
He  explained  that  a  cellar  would  be  dug  in  the  shed 
for  the  iireplace  and  that  the  hot  air  would  be  con 
ducted  round  the  greenhouse.  Mr.  Ellis  said  he 
had  not  thought  of  the  expense  of  a  fire ;  but  Gus 
tave  said  that  it  would  not  be  necessary  except  in 


MR.    ELLIS    AND    GUSTAVE.  131 

very  cold  weather,  and  then  not  a  very  large  one. 
After  Gustave  had  gone  out,  Cousin  Guy  said : 

"  "Well,  Gustave  is  an  ingenious  fellow." 

"  Yes,"  said  Mr.  Ellis,  "  that  drawing  is  really 
well  done." 

"  Very  well,  indeed  ;  but  I  did  not  refer  to  that, 
but  to  his  bringing  you  those  drawings  at  all.  It 
is  the  best  way  to  get  you  to  have  a  greenhouse, 
which  is  what  he  is  very  anxious  for." 

"  Yes,  that  is  true.  Well,  I  have  about  conclud 
ed  to  gratify  him.  The  fact  is,  he  is  a  first-rate 
gardener,  and  a  good  fellow,  and  I  am  afraid  if  I 
do  not  let  him  have  a  greenhouse  he  will  go  some 
where  else,  which  I  should  be  very  sorry  to  have 
him  do.  Mr.  Feast,  the  florist,  wants  him  now." 

The  next  morning,  while  the  family  were  at 
breakfast,  Ellen  came  in,  and  said  there  were  two 
men  in  the  yard  who  wanted  to  see  Mr.  Ellis,  as 
soon  as  he  was  done.  So  after  breakfast,  Mr.  Ellis, 
accompanied  by  Kenny,  went  out  into  the  yard. 
Gustave  met  him,  and  told  him  here  were  the  men 
who  would  build  a  greenhouse  for  him.  They 
told  Mr.  Ellis  what  it  would  cost,  and  promised 
that  they  would  do  the  work  well  and  very  soon. 
They  seemed  quite  anxious  to  have  the  job.  Mr. 
Ellis  said  he  would  let  them  know  the  next  day. 
That  morning  he  rode  down  town,  and  consulted  a 
builder,  who  said  that  the  price  for  which  the  Ger- 


132       BEST    PLACE    FOR    A    GREENHOUSE. 

mans  had  agreed  to  build  the  greenhouse  was 
very  cheap  indeed,  so  Mr."  Ellis  concluded  he 
would  employ  them.  The  next  day  they  came, 
and  Mr.  Ellis  told  them  that  he  had  decided  to 
get  them  to  build  the  greenhouse,  and  he  wanted 
them  to  begin  at  once.  They  said  they  would  be 
gin  that  very  day,  and  asked  him  to  tell  them  ex 
actly  where  he  wanted  the  greenhouse  to  be.  Mr. 
Ellis  said  he  would  go  out  to  see  which  would  be 
the  best  place,  and  he  told  Kenny  to  call  his  mother 
and  Cousin  Guy,  to  give  their  opinion.  So  they 
all  went  with  Gustave  and  the  Germans,  and  Mr. 
Ellis  presently  decided  upon  a  place  which  Gus 
tave  thought  would  be  the  most  suitable.  It  was 
in  full  sight  of  the  lane,  and  was  protected  by  a 
grove  of  trees  from  the  north  wind,  and  situated 
so  as  to  get  the  full  benefit  of  the  warm  sum.  It 
was  also  quite  convenient  to  the  house,  and  to 
the  rest  of  the  garden.  So,  on  all  these  accounts, 
this  was  thought  to  be  a  very  good  situation. 

"When  this  was  decided  on,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ellis 
and  Cousin  Guy  went  back  into  the  house,  but 
Kenny  staid  out  to  see  the  work,  as  the  men  said 
they  would  begin  immediately.  One  of  them 
proceeded  to  measure  the  ground  with  a  line,  and 
mark  oif  the  size  of  the  greenhouse  with  his  spade, 
very  much  as  Gustave  had  done  when  he  was  lay 
ing  off  the  paths  and  beds  in  the  garden.  Kenny 


BUILDING    A    GEEENHOUSE.  133 

inquired  what  this  was  for,  and  the  man  said  he 
was  marking  the  place  where  he  was  to  dig  the 
foundation. 

"  "What  is  the  use  of  a  foundation  ?"  said  Kenny. 

"  O  !  it's  to  make  the  house  strong.  If  we  were 
to  build  it  right  on  top  of  the  ground,  it  might  get 
blown  over.  A  house  built  down  into  the  ground 
is  like  a  tree  with  its  roots  in  the  ground,  so  that 
it  stands  firm." 

"  I  understand,"  said  Kenny.  "  "Well,  is  there 
any  other  use  in  having  a  foundation  ?" 

"  Yes,  there  is,  for  a  greenhouse.  It  is  warmer 
a  little  under  ground,  and  that  is  better  for  flow 
ers." 

"  Why,  is  it  warmer  under  ground  ?" 

"  I  don't  know  exactly,  but  I  know  it  is  warmer 
under  ground  in  the  cold  weather." 

"  I  mean  to  ask  father.  I  know  he  will  under 
stand." 

"  Yes,  I  reckon  he  will." 

"  By  this  time  the  other  German  had  returned, 
and  had  brought  with  him  another  man,  and  a  boy 
driving  a  horse  and  cart. 

"  Now,  I  wonder  where  Mr.  Ellis  wants  this  dirt 
carried,"  said  one  of  the  workmen.  "  I  will  go 
and  see." 

Mr.  Ellis  came  out,  and  showed  him  a  large  hol 
low  in  the  grove,  just  behind  the  greenhouse, 
12 


134:  DIGGING    A    FOUNDATION. 

which  he  said  he  would  be  glad  to  have  filled  up. 
So  the  man  said  he  would  empty  the  dirt  there. 
Then  the  men  commenced  digging,  and,  as  fast  as 
they  got  loose  dirt,  throwing  it  into  the  cart.  Two 
of  the  men  worked  with  a  sort  of  very  sharp  hoe, 
which  they  told  Kenny  was  called  a  pickaxe.  He 
said  it  was  very  much  like  the  picture  he  had  seen 
of  an  anchor.  With  these  pickaxed  two  of  the 
men  dug  up  the  ground,  which  was  very  hard, 
while  the  other  man,  with  a  long  shovel,  threw  it 
into  the  cart.  The  little  boy  stood  by,  cracking 
his  whip.  Kenny  said  he  thought  the  little  boy 
had  a  very  easy  time.  But  the  man  said  he  would 
have  a  good  deal  of  hard  work  to  do,  and  would 
be  pretty  hungry  by  dinner,  and  both  tired  and 
hungry  by  night.  Kenny  said  he  was  always  tired 
and  hungry  at  night  without  having  worked  at  all. 
He  then  asked  the  little  boy  what  work  he  would 
have  to  do. 

"  O,"  said  he,  "  I  have  to  walk  by  the  cart  to 
where  the  load  is  emptied." 

"I  should  think,"  said  Kennv,  "you  would 
ride." 

"The  load  is  heavy  enough  for  the  horse,  with 
out  me.  I  ride  back,  when  it  is  empty." 

"  What  other -work  do  you  have  to  do  ?" 

"  Dump  out  the  dirt." 

"  What  do  you  mean  by  that  ?" 


DUMPING    DIRT.  135 

"  I  tip  up  the  cart  body,  so  as  to  let  the  dirt 
slide  out.  Then  I  have  to  tip  the  body  back,  so 
as  to  be  ready  to  carry  more  dirt." 

The  cart  was  now  full,  and  as  the  boy  started 
off,  leading  the  horse,  Kenny  said  he  would  go 
with  him,  as  he  wanted  to  help  dump  out  the  dirt. 
"When  they  got  to  the  place,  the  boy  turned  the 
horse  around,  so  that  the  back  of  the  cart  was  just' 
at  the  edge  of  the  hollow  which  Mr.  Ellis  said  he 
wanted  filled  up.  The  boy  went  round  and  took 
off  the  piece  from  the  hind  end  of  the  cart.  He 
told  Kenny  that  this  piece  was  called  the  "  tail 
board."  When  he  took  this  off  some  of  the  dirt 
rolled  out  of  the  cart. 

"  Now,"  said  he,  "  I  will  show  you  how  to  dump 
this  load." 

So  he  unfastened  a  chain  which  held  the  cart- 
body  to  the  shafts,  near  the  horse's  tail,  and  then 
put  his  shoulders  under  the  body  and  lifted  it  up, 
and  down  went  the  hind  part  of  the  cart,  and  out 
went  all  the  dirt,  with  a  considerable  noise. 

"  That  would  have  frightened  our  horse,"  said 
I^enny. 

"  This  horse  is  used  to  it,"  said  the  boy,  as  he 
proceeded  to  drive  the  horse  a  little  forward,  so 
as  to  empty  all  the  dirt,  and  then  tipped  back  the 
cart  body  into  its  proper  place. 

"  Now,"  said  he,  "  we  will  ride  back,"  and  he 


136  WORKMEN    GO    TO    DINNER. 

jumped  into  the  cart,  and  pulled  Kenny  up  after 
him,  and  they  rode  back  together.  "When  they 
got  back,  they  found  there  was  a  good  deal  of  loose 
dirt  all  ready  to  be  hauled  away,  and  all  three  of 
the  men  took  shovels,  and  proceeded  to  fill  the 
cart.  Several  loads  of  dirt  were  hauled  in  this 
way,  and  Kenny  went  nearly  every  time,  and  rode 
back  with  the  boy.  At  last,  when  they  came  back, 
one  of  the  men  said : 

"  Take  out  now,  Johnny,  it  is  twelve  o'clock ;" 
and  the  boy  drove  the  horse  to  a  tree  near  by,  and 
unhitched  him,  and  gave  him  some  food,  which  he 
had  brought  with  him  in  a  bag  and  put  at  the 
foot  of  the  tree.  He  emptied  the  food  into  the 
bottom  of  the  cart,  and  the  horse  began  to  eat  it, 
as  if  he  were  very  hungry. 

"Now,"  said  Johnny,  "I  will  go  and  get  my 
own  dinner." 

"Is  that  man  your  father?"  said  Kenny. 

"Yes." 

"  How  did  he  know  it  was  twelve  o'clock  ?" 

"  By  the  sun,  I  believe.  Whenever  the  sun  is 
right  overhead,  that  shows  it  is  twelve  o'clock." 

"  I  think  you  have  a  very  early  dinner.  "We 
don't  dine  for  a  good  while  yet.  We  dine  at  two 
o'clock." 

"  You  see,  we  eat  an  early  breakfast,  so  we  are 


-V 


Building  the  Greenhouse. 


KENNY    SAYS    HIS    LESSON.  139 

obliged  to  have  an  early  dinner.  Workmen  gen 
erally  dine  at  twelve  o'clock." 
"  Are  you  a  workman  ?" 
"  Yes,  I  reckon  so,  or  rather  a  work-boy." 
The  boy  now  went  to  where  the  men  were.  They 
had  taken  their  dinner  out  of  a  tin  bucket,  and  it 
looked  very  nice.  There  was  bread,  and  meat, 
and  cheese.  There  was  a  bottle.  At  first,  Kenny 
thought  it  was  liquor ;  but  the  men  said  it  w*s  mo 
lasses.  Kenny  was  hungry,  and  almost  wanted 
some  of  the  dinner  himself;  but  he  knew  that  it 
would  not  be  right  for  him  to  ask  for  any,  so  he 
thought  he  would  go  in  the  house  till  after  the 
workmen  were  done  eating.  It  was  very  well  that 
he  did  got  in  just  at  this  time,  as  his  mother  was 
ibout  to  send  for  him  to  come  and  say  his  lesson. 
She  washed  his  hands  and  face,  and  gave  him  an 
apple,  and  then  heard  him  read.  He  enjoyed  sit 
ting  still,  as  he  had  been  out  so  long,  and  had  got 
ten  very  tired.  After  that,  Kenny  went  out  again 
to  watch  the  progress  of  the  digging.  When  the 
hole  became  too  deep  for  the  dirt  to  be  thrown  up 
into  the  cart,  the  boy  backed  the  cart  down  into 
the  hole.  The  men  had  left  one  of  the  sides  slant- 
jig  on  purpose,  for  the  cart  to  be  backed  down. 
After  all  the  rest  of  the  earth  had  been  taken  away, 
they  then  dug,  and  threw  into  the  cart  that  which 
had  been  left.  "When  the  digging  was  finished, 


14:0  LEVELLING    THE    GROUND. 


the  man  who  had  last  come,  and  the  boy  with  the 
horse  and  cart,  hauled  a  few  loads  of  sand  and  of 
brick,  and  a  barrel  and  some  tools,  to  be  used  in 
laying  the  brick.  In  their  place,  came  another 
man,  who,  Gustave  told  Kenny,  was  a  bricklayer. 
He  got  down  into  the  foundation,  and  began  to 
work  with  a  curious  tool.  It  was  made  of  three 
pieces  of  wood,  fastened  together  so  as  to  form  a 
triangle,  like  the  letter  A,  only  the  cross-piece  was 
at  the  bottom,  instead  of  the  middle.  From  the 
top  of  this  there  hung  a  string  with  a  ball  of  lead 
attached.  The  workmen  used  this  instrument  in 
order  to  find  out  when  the  ground  was  level.  He 
would  set  it  on  the  ground  that  he  wanted  level, 
and  if  me  string  hung  straight  over  a  little  mark 
on  the  cross-piece,  he  knew  the  place  on  which  the 
instrument  was  placed  was  level.  But  if  the 
string  hung  on  one  side,  he  knew  the  ground  on 
that  side  was  too  low,  and  he  would  take  his  spade 
or  trowel  and  dig  away  some.  In  this  manner  he 
went  all  around,  and  then  said  that  he  had  levelled 
a  place  on  which  to  build  the  wall.  He  then  pro 
ceeded  to  lay  the  bricks.  He  laid  them  right  on 
the  ground,  with  the  small  side  of  the  bricks  next 
to  the  ground,  and  without  any  mortar  at  all.  He 
told  Kenny  that  when  he  had  finished  the  first 
course,  he  would  put  the  flat  side  of  the  bricks 
down,  and  would  vse  mortar  to  make  them  hold 


BRICKLAYERS    BEGIN    TO    BUILD.      141 

together.  When  he  had  finished  laying  this  course 
of  bricks,  he  said  he  would  make  his  mortar. 
Among  the  tools  which  had  been  brought  was  a 
large  sieve.  It  was  not  round,  such  as  is  generally 
used  in  kitchens,  but  oblong.  The  man  took  this, 
and  leaned  it  slanting  against  a  tree.  He  would 
then  take  up  the  sand  in  his  shovel,  and  throw  it 
against  the  sieve.  The  fine  sand  would  go  through 
the  holes,  and  the  gravel  and  stones  would  roll 
down.  When  a  good  deal  of  sand  had  been  thus 
sifted,  the  man  threw  it  into  a  flat  box  which  had 
been  brought  in  the  cart. 

"  Now,"  said  he,  "  I  want  Gustave." 

"  I  will  call  him,"  said  Kenny. 

"  Thank  you,  I  wish  you  would." 

Mr.  Ellis  had  agreed  with  the  workmen  that 
rustave  should  help  them. 

Kenny  soon  returned  with  Gustave.  The  man 
lid: 

"  Gustave,  I  want  some  water  here.  Will  you 
help  me  get  it?" 

"  Certainly  ;  how  shall  we  bring  it?" 

"  The  best  way  will  be  in  a  barrel,  on  a  wheel 
barrow.  I  see  you  have  a  wheel-barrow.  Have 
a  barrel  that  will  hold  water  ?" 

"  Yes,  I  have  one  that  I  keep  to  catch  water 
from  the  stable  roof,  to  water  the  plants  with.  Let 
us  go  and  get  it." 


142  FETCHING    WATER. 


So  Gustave  and  the  workman  got  the  wheel 
barrow,  and  then  the  barrel,  and  went  to  the 
pump.  They  found  the  barrel  was  too  high  to  get 
under  the  spout  of  the  pump,  so  they  let  it  remain 
on  the  wheelbarrow  and  filled  it  by  catching  the 
water  in  a  bucket,  and  pouring  it  into  the  barrel. 
The  pump  was  not  one  with  a  long  handle  but 
with  a  wheel,  and  when  this  wheel  was  turned, 
the  water  ran  in  a  constant  and  abundant  stream. 
Gustave  turned  the \wheel,  and  the  workman  held 
the  bucket,  and  emptied  it  into  the  barrel.  When 
the  barrel  was  full,  the  man  told  Gustave  to  hold 
it,  to  keep  it  from  shaking,  and  he  would  roll  the 
wheelbarrow.  In  this  way  they  managed  to  spill 
very  little. 

"Now,"  said  the  workman  to  Gustave,  when 
they  got  to  the  place  of  work,  "I  wish  you  would 
take  the  bucket  and  pour  the  Avater  on  this  sand 
as  I  tell  you." 

«  Very  well,"  said  Gustave,  "  I  will." 

Then  the  workman  took  his  hoe,  and  got  all 
the  sand  into  a  heap,  and  then  made  a  little  hole 
in  the  top  of  the  heap,  and  told  Gustave  to  pour 
some  water  into  that  hole.  As  soon  as  that  was 
done,  he  commenced  stirring  the  sand  and  water, 
so  as  to  mix  them  well  before  the  water  could  run 
off.  In  this  way  Gustave  kept  pouring  on  water, 
and  the  man  stirring  with  the  hoe,  until  all  the 


MAKING    MOKTAE.  143 

sand  was  wet.  Then  he  made  it  Into  a  heap  in 
the  corner  of  the  box. 

"  Now,"  said  Kenny,  "  I  suppose  your  mortar 
is  all  ready." 

"  Not  yet,"  said  the  workman  ;  "  we  must  put  in 
the  lime." 

"Lime!  what  is  that?" 

"  Something  that  we  mix  with  the  sand  which 
causes  the  mortar  to  dry  and  harden.  It  would 
not  answer  at  all  without  the  lime." 

So  the  man  went  to  the  barrel  which  had  been 
brought,  and  knocked  in  the  top,  and  then  took 
out  some  white  substance  that  looked  like  flour, 
only  it  had  a  good  many  lumps.  The  man  told 
Kenny  it  was  lime.  He  put  some  of  it  into  the 
ox. 

"  Now,"  said  he  to  Kenny,  "  if  you  will  look 
iut,  you  will  see  something  very  curious — some 
thing,  I  reckon,  you  never  saw  before." 

"What  is  that?" 

"  Look  out,  and  you  will  see.  Now,  Gustave, 
please  pour  some  water  on  this  lime." 

Gustave  did  so,  and  immediately  the  lime 
smoked,  and  the  water  hissed  and  foamed,  and 
bubbled  just  as  if  it  were  boiling.  Kenny  was 
very  much  astonished. 

"  "Why,"  said  he,  "  that  looks  as  if  it  were  a-fire: 
I  wonder  if  it  is  really  hot." 


144         THE    BRICKLAYERS    AT    WORK. 

"Yes,  indeed,"  said  the  man  as  he  stirred  it 
with  his  hoe,  "  it  is  hot.  Put  your  hand  over  there, 
and  you  will  feel  the  hot  air  coming  up." 

Kenny  did  so,  and  found  it  hot,  just  as  if  he  had 
his  hand  over  boiling  water. 

"  This,"  said  the  workman,  "  is  -called  slaking 
the  lime.' " 

He  then  mixed  this  lime  with  the  sand,  and  said 
that  now  the  mortar  was  done  and  ready  for  use, 
and  he  would  proceed  to  lay  the  brick. 

Mrs.  Ellis  now  came  into  the  porch,  and  told 
Kenny  it  was  time  for  him  to  come  in  and  say  his 
lesson.  Kenny  ran  at  once  to  her,  but  asked  her 
please  to  let  him  stay  a  little  while  longer,  and  see 
some  bricks  laid.  He  told  her  he  was  having  a 
noble  time,  and  was  learning  a  great  deal.  So  his 
mother  said  he  might  wait  a  little  while.  Kenny, 
on  going  back,  found  the  man  in  the  foundation, 
with  a  large  square  board  covered  with  bricks, 
and  another  with  mortar.  The  workman  would 
take  up  some  mortar  on  his  trowel,  and,  holding  it 
over  the  bricks  that  he  had  laid,  would  give  it  a 
jerk,  so  as  to  spread  the  mortar  over  several  of 
the  bricks.  Then  he  would  draw  his  trowel  over  it, 
so  as  to  flatten  it.  Then  he  would  lay  the  bricks, 
carefully  keeping  them  in  a  straight  line,  and 
knocking  them  gently  into  their  place  with  the 
handle  of  the  trowel.  Whenever  he  wanted  a 


MAKING    A    CHANNEL.  145 

piece  of  brick,  he  would  strike  one  witji  the  sharp 
edge  of  his  trowel,  and  break  it  into  the  size  he 
wanted.  He  first  built  up  the  wall  at  the  opposite 
corners,  and  then  stretched  a  line  across  from  one 
of  these  to  the  other,  so  as  to  be  able  to  keep  the 
wall  straight.  Kenny  noticed  that  he  never  placed 
one  brick  exactly  over  another,  but  over  the  place 
where  the  ends  of  two  bricks  joined,  so  as  to  lap 
one  half  over  each.  He  said  that  this  made  the 
wall  much  stronger,  and  that  this  was  the  way 
that  bricks  were  always  laid.  Kenny  now  thought 
his  mother  would  want  him,  so  he  went  in.  He 
came  out  again  that  afternoon,  and  indeed  contin- 
uecj  to  spend  most  of  his  time  with  the  workmen. 
He  found  it  very  pleasant,  to  see  work  done  which 
was  new  to  him,  and  especially  to  see  the  walls 
of  a  house  rising,  where  a  little  while  ago  there 
was  nothing.  In  a  few  days,  the  walls  were  com 
pleted,  and  then  the  men  proceeded  to  build  a 
channel.  At  first  Kenny  could  nflt  understand 
what  was  meant  by  a  channel,  but  Cousin  Guy 
explained  to  him  that  it  was  a  sort  of  chimney, 
only  instead  of  going  straight  up,  as  chimneys 
generally  do,  it  first  went  all  around  the  green 
house  to  the  place  from  which  it  started,  gradually 
rising,  and  then  went  straight  up  to  the  top  of  the 
house.  He  said  the  object  of  the  channel  was  to 
conduct  the  heat  all  through  the  greenhouse,  so  as 
13 


146          THE    GREEN-HOUSE    FINISHED. 

«3r 

to  warm  the  air,  and  keep  the  flowers  from  being 
killed  in  the  cold  weather.  The  fire-place  was 
not  in  the  greenhouse,  but  in  a  little  cellar  behind. 
At  last  all  the  brickwork  of  the  greenhouse  was 
finished.  Kenny  thought  he  would  now  have  fine 
fun  seeing  the  carpenter  work  done,  and  that  he 
would  have  a  chance  to  get  a  good  many  blocks. 
But  there  was  not  so  much  of  this  kind  of  work 
as  he  expected.  The  workmen  had  brought  all 
the  window  frames  ready  made.  They  told  Kenny 
they  were  made  by  machinery,  and  could  be 
done  a  great  deal  cheaper  in  that  way.  All  the 
wooden  parts  of  the  greenhouse  were  brought  in 
a  wagon,  all  ready  to  put  up ;  and  in  the  course 
of  the  day,  the  whole  was  finished  enough  for 
Gustave  to  begin  to  put  the  flowers  in.  The 
painting  was  done  afterwards.  There  was  in  fact 
very  little  to  do,  as  the  top  and  front,  and  both 
ends  were  pretty  much  made  up  of  windows. 
Even  the  door  was  like  a  window,  only  it  was  on 
hinges,  instead  of  sliding  up  and  down,  as  all  the 
windows  did.  The  shed  behind  the  greenhouse 
was  also  quickly  finished.  Part  of  this  was  occu 
pied  by  a  cellar  for  coal  and  by  the  fire-place. 
The  other  was  to  be  kept  to  keep  tools  and  flower 
pots.  When  the  house  was  done,  Mr.  Ellis  told 
the  workman  that  he  liked  it  very  much,  and  that 
they  had  done  their  work  in  quite  a  short  time. 


PLANTS    IN    THE    GREENHOUSE.         147 

He  then  paid  them,  and  they  went  away.  Gustave 
proceeded  to  fit  up  the  house  with  all  that  was 
needful.  He  had  told  Mr.  Ellis  that  he  could  do 
this,  and  that  he  would  like  to  do  it.  He  first 
made  shelves  for  the  flower-pots.  These  shelves 
were  like  steps,  and  occupied  nearly  the  whole  of 
the  house.  He  then  made  a  long  shallow  box, 
divided  into  several  compartments,  and  fastened 
it  up  against  the  wall,  about  as  high  as  a  work 
bench.  This  box,  he  told  Kenny,  was  to  sprout 
seed  in.  He  said  that  he  would  take  the  little 
plants  out  of  this,  and  put  them  in  pots.  Then  he 
got  a  hogshead,  and  brought  it  into  the  green 
house,  and  put  it  under  the  shelves,  and  made  a 
pipe  to  bring  the  rain-water  from  the  roof  into  the 
hogshead.  In  this  way,  he  would  always  ha^ve 
water  convenient  for  the  flowers.  The  green 
house  was  now  ready  for  the  flowers.  When  all 
this  was  done,  Gustave  moved  into  the  green 
house  the  plants  which  he  had  been  keeping  in 
the  stable  loft.  While  he  was  doing  this,  Mr. 
Meridett  came  out.  As  soon  as  he  entered  the 
greenhouse,  he  said : 

"  Why,  Gustave,  haven't  you  got  these  shelves 
wrong  ?  I  should  think  you  would  have  the  large 
shelves  at  the  bottom  and  the  small  ones  at  the 
top :  but  you  have  put  them  just  the  other  way." 

"  O  no,  sir,  this  is  right,  and  this  is  the  way  they 


148      ARRANGEMENT    OF    THE    PLANTS. 


are  always  fixed.  You  see,"  continued  Gustave 
pleasantly,  but  quite  earnestly,  "  you  see,  if  the 
large  pots  and  large  flowers  were  on  the  lower 
shelves,  I  could  not  reach  over  to  water  and  to 
handle  the  flowers  above.  As  it  is,  I  can  do  it 
very  well.  Besides,  sir,  the  large  plants  require 
more  heat,  so  that  they  must  be  put  as  high  up  as 
possible."  , 

"  I  should  think  it  would  be  warmer  near  the 
channel,"  said  Kenny. 

"  No,"  said  Cousin  Guy,  "  it  is  warmer  up  high 
first,  because  the  hot  air  always  rises.  In  a  crowd 
ed  church  on  a  warm  day,  the  gallery  is  always 
the  warmest  place." 

"  "Well,  what  is  the  other  reason  ?" 

"It  is  warmer  up  high  in  a  greenhouse,  because 
the  roof  is  of  glass,  which  reflects  the  heat  of  the 
sun.  I  see  now,"  continued  he,  turning  to  Gustave, 
"  that  you  are  right,  in  the  way  you  have  arranged 
the  shelves.  I  did  not  think  of  the  advantages 
you  mentioned  in  having  the  small  plants  below, 
and  the  large  ones  above.  I  only  went  011  general 
principles." 

"  Yes,  sir,"  said  Gustave,  "  it  would  seem  at  first 
sight  to  be  as  you  thought." 

';  Cousin  Guy,"  said  Kenny,  "  what  do  you 
mean  by  general  principles  ?" 

"  Why,  I  meant  this,  that  though  I  had  never 


COUSIN    GUY'S    ADVICE.  149 

noticed  how  greenhouse  shelves  were  arranged,  I 
knew  that  generally  when  several  things  are  placed 
one  above  the  other,  the  larger  are  put  at  the  bot 
tom,  and  the  smaller  at  the  top,  and  that  when  the 
opposite  plan  is  pursued,  it  is  neither  so  safe  nor 
looks  so  well." 

Gustave  now  said  he  was  going  to  town  for  some 
flower-pots. 

"  I  want  to  go,"  said  Kenny. 

"  I  don't  think  you  can,  though.  I  am  going  in 
the  wagon,  and  your  mother  will  not  want  you  to 
go  in  that." 

"  Oh,  I  can  go  in  the  wagon  very  well.  I  would 
rather  go  in  the  wagon  than  in  the  carriage.  I 
can  sit  up  on  the  seat,  with  you.  Can't  I  go, 

ousin  Guy  ?" 

"  Yes,  indeed,  you  can  go.  Gustave  only  meant 
that  your  mother  would  not  be  willing." 

"I  would  like  very  much  to  have  you,"  said 

ustave,  "  if  your  mother  thinks  it  proper." 

"  I  mean  to  go  right  off  and  ask  her  to  let  me," 
and  off  Kenny  was  starting. 

"  Stop  a  moment,"  said  Cousin  Guy. 

Kenny  paused  a  moment  to  see  what  Cousin 
Guy  wanted,  and  Cousin  Guy  said : 

"  Your  mother  may  not  be  willing  for  you  to 
go,  and  I  only  wanted  to  tell  you,  if  this  is  the 
case,  I  hope  you  will  take  it  pleasantly.  You  had 
13* 


150      KENNY    KESOLVES    TO    SE    GOOD. 


better  make  up  your  mind  beforehand  to  do  so. 
Will  you  ?" 

"  Yes,"  said  Kenny,  "  I  will,"  and  he  ran  off  to 
ask  his  mother.  She  at  once  told  him  that  she  did 
not  know  whether  it  would  be  right  for  him  to  go, 
but  said  she  was  very  willing,  if  his  father  approv 
ed.  So  Kenny  proceeded  in  search  of  his  father, 
and  found  him  in  the  study,  and  asked  his  permis 
sion  to  go  with  Gustave.  Mr.  Ellis  said  there  were 
two  points  to  be  considered — first,  whether  it  was 
proper  for  him  to  go,  and,  second,  whether  his 
mother  was  willing.  Kenny  said  his  mother  had 
said  she  was  willing,  if  it  was  proper.  So  Mr. 
Ellis  said  he  would  go  out  and  see  about  it.  As 
he  and  Kenny  went  out,  Kenny  told  his  father  that 
he  had  made  up  his  mind,  if  he  did  not  go,  that 
he  would  not  cry  or  be  bad.  His  father  said,  that 
was  a  good  plan ;  that  it  was  bad  enough  to  be 
disappointed  of  a  pleasure,  without  doing  any 
thing  to  make  himself  unhappy.  Besides,  it  was 
BO  wrong  to  cry  and  be  naughty,  just  because  he 
could  not  do  whatever  he  wanted. 

"  Well,  Gustave,"  said  Mr.  Ellis,  "  what  about 
Kenny's  going  with  you  ?" 

"  Just  as  you  choose,  sir  ;  I  should  like  to  have 
him,  if  you  think  it  proper ;  but  I  thought  you 
would  not  like  to  have  him  ride  through  the  streets 
in  the  wagon." 


GOING    TO    TOWN.  151 


"  Oh,  I  don't  care  about  that.  Can  he  ride  on 
the  seat  with  you,  without  danger,  and  without 
troubling  you  ?" 

"Yes,  sir." 

""Well,  then  he  may  go.    You  may  go,  Kenny." 

Dave  was  soon  harnessed,  and  Gustave  and 
Kenny  started  off.  The  wagon  had  no  springs, 
and  jolted  a  good  deal,  as  it  rattled  over  the  rough 
pavement,  but  Gustave  had  put  a  sheep-skin  on 
the  seat,  which  made  it  quite  comfortable.  Kenny's 
feet  could  not  reach  down  to  the  front-piece  of 
the  wagon,  but  Gustave  put  one  arm  around  him, 
so  as  to  hold  him  safely.  They  drove  down  Balti 
more  street,  and  at  length  stopped  in  front  of  a 
dingy,  dull-looking  store.  Kenny  was  rather  dis 
appointed.  He  had  occasionally  been  to  a  china 
store,  and  had  admired  its  beautiful  wares,  and  he 
thought  that  they  would  get  the  flower-pots  at  that 
kind  of  store. 

"  Is  this  the  place  ?"  said  he. 

"This  is  the  place,"  said  Gustave,  as  he  jumped 
out.  Then  he  took  Kenny  out,  and  fastened  the 
horse  to  a  post  near  by.  There  was  no  post  ex 
actly  in  front  of  the  store,  so  Gustave  led  him  to 
one  a  few  yards  further  on,  as  he  said  he  did  not 
like  to  leave  him  untied,  for  fear  he  might  start 
off  and  leave  them,  and  perhaps  break  something. 

"  Yes,"  said  Gustave,  "  this  is  the  pottery." 


152  SELECTING    FLOWER-POTS. 


"  Do  they  make  pots  here  ?" 

"No;  they  make  them  at  the  factory,  a  few 
miles  in  the  country,  and  bring  them  in  here  to  sell." 

"  Well,  Gustave,  why  didn't  you  go  to  a  china 
store?" 

"Because  I  can  buy  cheaper  here.  This  is  a 
wholesale  store.  The  china  shops  buy  here,  and 
they  have  to  charge  their  profit." 

Kenny  did  not  understand  all  this ;  but  he  did 
understand  that  Gustave  came  to  this  store  because 
he  could  buy  cheaper  than  elsewhere.  The  shop 
keeper  seemed  to  know  Gustave,  and  treated  him 
very  politely.  Gustave  told  him  that  he  wanted 
to  buy  a  good  many  pots— enough  to  stock  a  green 
house,  and  that  he  wanted  to  get  them  cheap.  The 
shopman  said  there  was  a  large  assortment  of  pots, 
and  very  cheap.  So  Gustave  went  around  the  room, 
and  down  cellar,  picking  out  what  he  wanted.  He 
got  a  few  very  large  ones,  and  a  few  very  small, 
and  then  a  great  many  of  medium  size.  The 
smallest  were  not  larger  than  tea-cups.  Kenny 
said  these  were  very  nice,  and  asked  Gustave  to 
give  him  one.  Gustave  said  he  would  give  him 
one,  and  a  flower  to  put  in  it.  As  the  pots  were 
selected,  they  were  put  one  within  the  other,  and 
carried  out  to  the  wagon. 

Gustave  had  put  in  a  good  deal  of  straw  to  keep 
them  from  breaking.  The  man  asked  Gustave  if 


THE    RETURN    HOME.  153 


he  did  not  want  some  saucers.  Gustave  said  ho 
would  take  a  few,  that  he  did  not  want  saucers  for 
all  the  pots.  He  told  Kenny  that  the  saucers  were 
to  catch  the  water,  which  came  through  the  holes 
in  the  bottom  of  the  pots,  and  that  saucers  were 
principally  useful  when  flowers  were  in  a  place 
where  it  was  desirable  not  to  have  a  slop ;  that  it 
did  not  make  much  difference  in  a  greenhouse. 
Kenny  asked  if  saucers  were  useful  for  any  thing 
else,  and  Gustave  told  him  that  by  holding  the 
water  which  ran  out  of  the  pot,  the  roots  were  kept 
moist  longer.  As  soon  as  all  the  pots  and  saucers 
were  in  the  wagon,  and  the  shopman  was  paid, 
Gustave  and  Kenny  took  their  places  on  the  seat, 
and  drove  straight  back  home.  Kenny  did  not 
enjoy  returning  as  much  as  he  did  coming,  as  they 
went  very  slowly,  so  as  not  to  break  any  of  the 
pots.  When  they  reached  home,  Gustave  went  to 
work  at  once  to  fill  the  pots,  while  Kenny  went  in 
to  tell  his  father  what  he  had  seen,  and  that  he  had 
come  back  safely.  He  then  went  out  with  hig 
father  to  see  Gustave.  They  found  that  he  had  a 
large  pile  of  black  earth,  very  fine  and  soft,  and 
that  he  was  filling  the  flower-pots  with  this.  He 
did  it  very  rapidly  in  this  way :  he  would  take  a 
pot  and  put  it,  with  the  open  side  down,  on  the 
earth,  and  then  turn  it  over,  so  as  to  fill  it,  and  give 
it  a  shake  to  settle  the  earth.  As  fast  as  he  filled 


154  PUTTING    FLOWERS    IN    POTS. 

the  pots,  he  would  set  them  on  a  board,  in  a  row. 
"When  he  had  filled  a  good  many,  he  took  his  spade 
and  a  basket,  and  went  to  dig  up  plants  to  put 
into  the  pots.  He  would  very  carefully  take  up  a 
plant,  so  as  to  leave  a  good  deal  of  earth  adhering 
to  the  roots,  and  would  place  it  in  the  basket. 
After  he  had  filled  the  basket,  he  brought  them  to 
the  greenhouse,  and  proceeded  to  put  the  plants 
into  the  pots,  which  were  prepared  for  them.  And 
then,  finally,  the  pots  with  the  plants  in  them  were 
put  up  on  the  shelves  in  the  greenhouse.  Gustave 
took  care  to  put  in  the  large  plants  first,  and  as 
they  were  placed  on  the  upper  shelves,  they  would 
not  interfere  with  putting  in  the  smaller  ones  after 
ward.  Work  of  this  sort  pretty  much  occupied 
Gustave  for  several  days,  and  he  seemed  to  do  it 
with  great  pleasure.  At  length  the  greenhouse 
was  filled,  and  Gustave  went  in  to  ask  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Ellis  to  come  and  see  it.  They  were  both 
very  much  pleased ;  and,  indeed,  the  flowers  pre 
sented  a  beautiful  appearance.  The  steps  rose  al 
most  perpendicularly,  and  as  the  leaves  hid  the 
plank,  the  appearance  was  that  of  a  wall  of  flowers. 
Gustave  said  it  would  look  even  prettier  when  the 
ground  was  covered  with  snow ;  and  besides,  he 
was  going  to  raise  a  great  many  more  flowers,  and 
some  of  them  prettier  than  any  that  had  grown  in 
the  garden. 


BOUQUETS.  155 

After  this  the  greenhouse  was  certainly  a  con 
stant  source  of  pleasure  to  Gustavo.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Ellis  went  in  occasionally,  and  would  enjov  a  bou 
quet  whenever  Gustave  made  it  and  brought  it  to 
them.  Next  to  Gustave,  Mr.  Meridett  enjoyed 
the  greenhouse  more  than  any  one  else.  Often, 
in  the  cold  weather,  he  would  go  in  and  spend 
hours  with  Gustave,  watching  him  work,  and  talk 
ing  with  him  about  the  flowers.  Gustave  knew 
all  the  long,  botanical  names  for  the  different  plants, 
and  was  very  much  pleased  to  tell  them  to  Mr. 
Meridett. 

Cousin  Guy  was  also  very  fond  of  getting  bou 
quets.  Sometimes  he  would  keep  them  in  his 
room,  and  sometimes  carry  them  to  his  friends  in 
the  city.  One  cold,  bright  day  he  went  into  the 
greenhouse  to  get  Gustave  to  put  him  up  a  bou 
quet. 

"  I  want  you,"  said  he  to  Gustave,  "  to  take 
more  pains  than  usual  with  this  bouquet.  It  is  for  a 
lady — a  lady  from  Virginia,  whom  I  knew  when 
I  was  at  the  University.  I  want  her  to  see  what 
Baltimore  can  do." 

Gustave  smiled,  and  said  he  would  do  his  best. 
He  was  busy  transplanting  flowers  from  a  sort  of 
bed  in  which  they  had  been  raised,  to  small  pots. 
The  bed  was  filled  with  sand.  Gustave  said  that 
seed  would  grow  better  in  sand  than  in  any  other 


156  TRANSPLANTING. 

kind  of  earth,  as  it  was  always  moist.  He  had  a 
box  full  of  black  mould  with  which  he  filled  the 
pots.  He  was  also  transplanting  some  flowers 
from  small  pots  into  larger  ones.  He  would  turn 
the  pot  upside  down,  and  give  it  a  gentle  tap,  and 
the  flower,  with  the  soil  all  caked  around  the  root 
in  just  the  shape  of  the  pot,  would  come  out. 
Then  he  would  put  this  just  as  it  was  into  the 
larger  pot,  and  pack  in  enough  soil  to  fill  up. 
He  said  the  flower  would  hardly  know  it  had  got 
ten  into  a  bigger  house.  He  called  Mr.  Meridett's 
attention  to  one  of  the  flowers.  The  roots  had 
spread  so  entirely  around  the  edges  of  the  pot  that 
little  else  was  to  be  seen  but  a  mass  of  delicate 
white  roots.  It  was  indeed  very  beautiful. 

"  Why,  Gustave,  what  is  that  for  ?"  said  Mr.  Mer- 
idett,  and  he  pointed  to  a  shallow  box  filled  with 
earth,  and  in  the  earth  little  pots  of  flowers  stuck, 
just  as  if  they  had  been  planted,  pots  and  all. 

"  "Well,  sir,"  said  Gustave,  "  the  flowers  became 
too  large  for  the  pots,  and  it  was  not  convenient  to 
transplant  them,  so  I  just  put  the  pots  in  the  earth." 

"  But  what  good  does  that  do  ?" 

"  Oh,  the  roots  run  down  through  the  hole  of  the 
pot  into  the  earth.  Let  me  show  you,"  and  Gus 
tave  with  his  finger  scratched  up  the  earth  in  the 
box,  and  showed  him  that  it  was  full  of  roots  from 
the  flowers  that  were  in  the  pots. 


MAKING    A    BOUQUET.  157 

"  Well,  that  is  certainly  very  wonderful.  But 
now,  how  can  you  transplant  those  flowers  ?" 

"  Sometimes  I  have  to  break  the  pot ;  jbut  gen 
erally  I  can  draw  up  the  roots  through  the  hole  in 
the  pot," 

Gustave  now  proceeded  to  make  a  bouquet  for 
Mr.  Meridett.  He  first  gathered  all  the  flowers  he 
thought  he  would  need. 

"  Now,"  said  he,  "  will  you  have  the  flowers  put 
against  this  flat  cedar,  so  as  to  present  a  front  on 
one  side,  or  will  you  have  them  made  into  a  sort 
of  pyramid,  so  that  the  flowers  will  show  equally 
all  around  ?" 

"I  think  I  would  prefer  the  pyramid." 

Accordingly  Gustave  selected  a  handsome  rose 
with  a  good  many  green  leaves  attached,  and  pro 
ceeded  to  arrange  flowers  around  it  as  a  centre. 
He  did  it  very  deliberately  and  carefully,  wrap 
ping  the  thread  around  each  separate  flower. 
When  he  was  not  so  particular  about  making  a 
fine  bouquet,  he  would  hold  it  in  his  hand,  and 
not  tie  the  flowers  at  all,  until  they  were  all  ar 
ranged  in  their  places.  But  he  said  that  when 
it  was  important  to  make  a  very  nice  bouquet,  it 
was  necessary  to  tie .  each  flower  so  as  to  keep  it 
exactly  in  its  place.  This  took  a  good  deal  of 
thread. 

"  Oli,  Gustave !"  said  Mr.  Meridett,  pointing  to 
14 


158          CARE    IN    CUTTING    FLOWERS. 


a  very  delicate  and  beautiful  flower,  "  I  wish  you 
could  put  that  in  !" 

"  Yes,  sir,"  said  Gustave,  as  he  stepped  up  and 
carefully  clipped  it  off. 

"  But  you  cannot  put  that  in,  you  have  not  left 
a  long  enough  stem." 

"  I  did  not  like  to  cut  a  longer  stem,  sir,  it  would 
injure  the  plant,  and  it  is  a  very  rare  and  valuable 
one ;  but  I  can  make  a  stem  that  will  answer  just 
as  well." 

So  Gustave  took  his  knife,  and  cut  a  splinter 
from  a  block  lying  on  the  ground,  and  whittled 
it  very  fine  and  smooth,  making  one  end  of  it 
sharp.  To  the  other  end  he  carefully  tied  the 
flower,  covering  the  wood  with  leaves  so  as  to  con 
ceal  it  entirely,  and  then  thrusting  the  sharp  end 
of  the  splinter  into  the  bouquet,  so  that  the  flow 
er  took  its  place  in  the  bouquet,  just  as  if  it  had 
been  tied  in  with/ the  rest.  Mr.  Meridett  was  very 
much  pleased,  and  told  Gustave  that  he  was  cer 
tainly  an  ingenious  fellow.  At  last  the  bouquet 
was  done,  and  Mr.  Meridett  told  Gustave  he  had 
been  nearly  one  hour  fixing  it,  but  that  it  was 
pretty  enough  to  be  worth  all  the  trouble.  It  was 
indeed  a  magnificent  bouquet,  and  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Ellis  admired  it  very  much.  As  Mr.  Meridett  was 
just  starting  to  go  down  town,  Gustave  came  run 
ning  after  him,  and  said  : 


HOW    TO    CARRY    A    BOUQUET.  159 


"  Mr.  Meridett,  if  you  want  to  keep  those  flowers 
fresh  and  beautiful,  you  must  not  carry  them  so. 
You  should  wrap  wet  paper  around  the  stems,  and 
then  cover  it  all  lightly  over  with  a  newspaper." 

So  Mr.  Meridett  went  back  to  the  greenhouse, 
and  did  as  Gustave  had  directed.  The  next  day 
he  told  Gustave  that  the  lady,  to  whom  he  had 
carried  the  flowers,  was  very  much'  pleased  with 
them,  and  thought  they  were  beautifully  arranged. 
She  said,  too,  that  she  wanted  him  to  give  her  some 
flower  seed  that  she  might  plant  when  she  went 
home.  Gustave  said  he  would  send  her  some  that 
very  day.  So  in  the  afternoon  he  handed  Mr. 
Meridett  a  little  package.  It  contained  several 
little  paper  bags  of  seed,  with  a  written  paper 
with  the  names  and  descriptions  of  the  flowers, 
and  directions  for  raising  them.  The  reader  may 
perhaps  hear  more  of  these  flower  seeds,  and  of 
this  lady,  in  a  subsequent  volume  of  this  series, 
bearing  the  title  of  "  Cousin  Guy." 


160  THE    COQUETTE. 


CHAPTER 
SCULPTURE. 

/^VNE  morning  at  the  breakfast  table,  Cousin 
V/  Guy  said : 

"Mr.  Ellis,  have  you  been  to  see  'The  Co 
quette  ?' " 

"No,"  said  Mr.  Ellis,  "I  have  not,  but  I  -want 
to  go.  Have  you  been  ?" 

"  Yes ;  I  went  last  evening,  and  I  had  a  very 
pleasant  surprise," 

"  So  you  liked  the  statue  ?" 

"  Yes,  very  much ;  but  my  pleasant  surprise  was 
in  finding  that  the  artist,  Mr.  Barbee,  was  an  old 
fellow-student." 

"  Indeed !  That  must  have  been  pleasant.  Were 
you  at  the  University  together  ?" 

"  No ;  at  Richmond  College." 

"Well,  I  think  we  must  all  go  to-day  to  see 
the  '  Coquette.'  What  do  you  say,  Virginia  ?" 

"  I  shall  be  very  glad,"  replied  Mrs.  Ellis ;  and 


WHAT    IS    A  COQUETTE?  161 


Kenny  chimed  in  a  request  that  he  might  go  too. 
His  father  said  he  was  very  willing. 

"  But,  Kenny,"  continued  Mr.  Ellis,  "  do  you 
know  what  you  are  going  to  see  ?" 

"  Certainly,  father ;  I  know  what  a  statue  is." 

"  But  this  statue,"  said  Mr.  Ellis,  "  is  called  the 
1  Coquette.'  Do  you  know  what  that  means  ?" 

"  No,  I  don't ;  but  I  wish  you  would  tell  me." 

"  You  know  sometimes  statues  are  made  to  re 
semble  particular  persons." 

"  Yes ;  there  is  the  statue  of  Washington.  I 
have  a  picture  of  it." 

"  Very  well.  Then  sometimes  statues  are  made 
to  resemble,  not  a  particular  person,  but  any  per 
son  of  a  particular  character.  This  statue  is  made 
to  resemble  any  pretty  young  lady  who  is  a  co 
quette." 

"  But  you  hav'n't  told  me  yet  what  a  coquette 
is." 

"  I  am  afraid  I  cannot  explain  it  to  you,  so  as 
to  make  you  understand  it." 

".You  will  understand  it  when  you  are  older," 
said  Cousin  Guy,  smiling. 

"  I  want  to  know  now.     Please  try  to  tell  me." 

"  Well,  then,"  said  Cousin  Guy,  "  a  coquette  ia 
a  lady  who  smiles  on  a  gentleman,  as  if  she  liked 
him  very  much,  when  in  reality  she  does  not  care 
about  him." 
14* 


162  VISIT    TO    THE    STATUE. 


"  Oh,  I  understand  that !" 

"  Soon  after  breakfast,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ellis,  Cousin 
Guy,  and  Kenny  rode  down  town  in  the  carriage, 
and  went  at  once  to  the  room  where  the  statue  was 
kept  for  exhibition.  They  found  it  to  be  an  ordi 
nary-sized  room,  on  Baltimore  street,  and  only  a  few 
persons  within,  who  came  out  just  as  the  carriage 
drove  up.  Mrs.  Ellis  said  she  had  expected  to  find 
a  large  hall,  crowded  with  people.  But  Cousin 
Guy  told  her  it  was  not  as  if  the  statue  was  to  be 
exhibited  for  only  a  few  days,  and  at  particular 
hours  of  the  day ;  but  that  it  was  to  remain  in  the 
city  for  some  months,  and  could  be  seen  at  any 
time,  so  that  though  many  persons  in  all  would 
visit  it,  there  would,  generally,  be  only  a  few 
present  at  once. 

A  very  pleasant  gentleman  met  them  at  the 
door,  who  greeted  Cousin  Guy  cordially,  and  in 
vited  the  party  in.  He  said,  he  supposed  they 
had  come  to  see  the  statue,  and  immediately  led 
them  to  it,  and  took  off  a  veil  with  which  it  had 
been  covered.  It  was  a  marble  figure  of  a  young 
female,  holding  in  one  hand  a  heart,  and  in  the 
other  an  arrow  pierced  through  the  heart.  This 
she  was  surveying  with  a  look  of  inexpressible 
pleasure  and  mischief. 

"  Why,  she  is  smiling,  father,"  said  Kenny. 


MR.  BARBEE,  THE  SCULPTOR.    163 


"  Yes,  there  is  a  very  natural  smile  on  the  face," 
replied  Mr.  Ellis. 

"  It  has  been  said,"  observed  Mr.  Barbee,  ap 
parently  gratified  at  these  remarks,  "that  it  i8 
impossible  to  make  marble  smile." 

"  But  that  marble  smiles,"  said  Mrs.  Ellis  ;  "  it 
is  a  wonderful  triumph  of  skill." 

Mr.  Barbee  then  went  on  modestly,  but  en 
thusiastically,  calling  attention  to  different  points 
of  the  statue ;  and  the  more  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ellis, 
and  Cousin  Guy  looked,  the  more  they  admired  it. 
Mr.  Meridett  asked  Mr.  Barbee  how  he  first  be 
came  a  sculptor. 

"  Why,"  said  he,  "  I  cannot  remember  the  time 
when  I  was  not  fond  of  carving  images.  When  I 
was  a  boy,  I  was  always  cutting  bark  and  soft 
pine  with  my  knife,  and  making  all  sort  of  figures. 
Once  or  twice,  I  was  whipped  for  this,  and  I  de 
termined  to  stop  it,  but  I  could  not  do  it." 

"  Well,  did  you  go  right  on,  then,  and  become  a 
sculptor  ?" 

"  Oh,  no  !  When  I  grew  up,  I  studied  law,  and 
commenced  to  be  a  lawyer.  But,  though  I  never 
dreamed  of  being  an  artist  by  profession,  I  still 
thought  I  would  rather  chisel  out  beautiful  forms 
than  do  any  thing  else  in  the  world ;  and,  somehow, 
I  was  always  at  work,  sometimes  hardly  conscious 
of  what  I  was  at.  In  the  court  room  I  would 


164        MR.  BARBEK'S  NARRATIVE. 

find  myself  cutting  figures  of  the  heads  of  persons 
present.  I  will  show  you  something  that  I  made 
then." 

And  Mr.  Barbee  went  to  a  closet,  and  took  out 
a  cane,  which  he  handed  to  Mr.  Ellis.  It  was 
carved  all  over  with  heads  of  all  sorts,  and  was 
very  handsome  and  curious.  They  all  admired  it, 
but  Kenny  could  hardly  express  the  admiration 
he  felt.  He  seemed  to  think  it  more  wonderful 
than  the  statue.  While  he  was  looking  at  it,'  Mr. 
Ellis  asked  Mr.  Barbee  to  continue  his  narrative, 
as  he  was  very  much  interested,  and  especially 
wanted  to  hear  how  Mr.  Barbee  became  a  sculp 
tor. 

"  At  last,"  continued  Mr.  Barbee,  "  I  felt  that  I 
must  make  some  statues.  It  seemed  that  I  could 
not  be  satisfied  unless  I  did.  And  yet  I  had  been 
so  often  ridiculed  on  the  subject,  that  I  felt  very 
much  ashamed,  and  determined  to  pursue  my 
work  privately.  I  did  not  tell  my  wife  even.  But 
I  procured  some  plaster  of  Paris,  and  proceeded 
to  work  away  on  it,  working  only  at  night,  when 
I  would  not  be  interrupted,  and  hiding  the  mate 
rials  and  tools  when  I  stopped.  One  night,  at  a 
late  hour,  General  B.  was  passing  by  my  office 
and  heard  me  at  work.  He  immediately  guessed 
my  secret,  and  called  out  to  me  to  open  the  door, 
and  let  him  in,  as  he  knew  all  about  what  I  was 


GENERAL    B.    AND    THE    STATUE.        165 


doing.  I  did  so,  and  made  him  at  once  my  confi 
dante.  He  went  up  to  a  small  statue  which  I  had 
nearly  finished,  exclaiming : 

"  '  Why,  man,  you  ought  not  to  be  any  thing  else 
but  a  sculptor ;  you  can't  make  a  speech  half  as 
good  as  that.'  '  I  certainly  had  much  rather 
make  statues  than  speeches,'  said  I.  He  promised 
not  to  divulge  my  secret,  without  my  consent,  on 
condition  I  would  at  once  finish,  and  give  him  the 
statue  I  was  then  at  work  on.  To  this  I  gladly 
consented.  I  had  no  idea  it  was  valuable.  I 
made  it  simply  because  it  was  a  pleasure  to  do  so, 
or  rather  I  could  not  help  it.  The  rest  is  soon  told. 
The  general  carried  the  statute  to  Baltimore,  and 
showed  it  to  several  gentleman  interested  in  the 
arts,  and  they  said  the  man  who  made  it  must  go 
to  Italy,  and  give  up  every  thing  else  to  be  a 
sculptor.  After  I  fairly  got  the  idea,  I  was  ready 
enough  to  do  this.  I  sold  my  law  books,  went  to 
Florence,  and  'The  Coquette,'  there,  is  my  first 
work." 

Even  Kenny  had  listened  with  interest  to  this 
account,  and  when  it  was  finished,  all  said  that  it 
was  very  remarkable.  Mr.  Meridett  then  asked 
Mr.  Barbee  to  tell  them  something  of  the  way  in 
which  statues  were  made.  Mr.  Barbee  said  he 
would  be  pleased  to  give  them  any  information  in 
his  power.  He  went  on  to  say,  that  all  the  work 


166  YOUNG    AMERICA. 

\ 

done  by  the  artist  was  on  plaster  of  Paris,  which 
was  soft,  and  easily  cut,  and  that  when  the  model 
was  done,  the  marble  was  generally  chiseled  out 
by  a  more  common  workman.  Mr.  Ellis  seemed 
much  surprized  at  this,  and  said  he  had  never 
known  much  about  it,  but  had  always  supposed 
that  the  whole  work  on  the  marble  was  done  by 
the  artist  himself.  Mr.  Barbee  said  he  would 
show  them  a  figure  he  was  then  at  work  upon. 
He  conducted  them  into  a  back  room,  and  pointed 
to  a  half  finished  statue  of  a  boy.  lie  said  the 
name  of  this  would  be  "Young  America."  He 
showed  them  a  chisel  and  small  mallet,  which,  he 
said,  were  almost  his  entire  implements.  He  said 
a  great  deal  of  the  work  now  would  be  done  sim 
ply  with  the  chisel,  that  sometimes  he  would 
spend  hours  in  shaping  a  single  muscle  or  feature. 

"  But  I  do  not  understand,"  said  Mr.  Meridett, 
"how  you  manage  to  get  exactly  the  size,  and 
shape  of  every  part." 

"  Well,  it  is  of  course  a  good  deal  in  having  a 
native  talent  for  it,  but  then,  besides,  one  has  to 
study,  and  take  an  immense  deal  of  pains.  The 
sculptor  has  to  understand  anatomy  well,  so  as  to' 
know  the  position  of  every  muscle,  and  the  char 
acter  of  every  joint." 

He  took  down  a  large  volume,  and  continued : 
"  Now,  here  are  a  large  number  of  plates.  I  have 


MODELS    FOR    SCULPTORS.  167 

sometimes  spent  a  day  studying  one  of  these, 
turning  from  the  plate  to  the  figure,  and  from  the 
figure  to  the  plate.  But  then,  besides  all  this,  we 
study  nature  itself.  "We  get  persons  to  come  and 
stay  in  the  studio  for  hours,  placing  themselves 
in  different  postures,  and  from  them  we  get  the 
idea  we  want.  We  do  not  often  get  the  whole 
from  any  one  person.  A  person  might  have  a 
forehead  very  beautiful,  but  a  nose  positively 
ugly.  Art  aims  at  perfection,  and  the  plan  of  the 
artist  is  to  get  one  feature  from  one  personj  and 
another  from  another." 

"  But,  do  you  not  sometimes  find  it  difficult  to 
get  as  many  persons  as  you  want,  and  the  right 
kind,  for  you  to  copy  from?"  inquired  Mrs. 
Ellis. 

"  Yes,  it  would  be  difficult  here,  because  there 
is  little  sculpture  made  in  this  country.  But  in 
Italy,  where  art  is  the  principal  thing,  there  is  a 
demand  for  persons  to  sit  as  models,  and  there  are 
numbers  who  make  it  a  business.  They  come  to 
the  artist's  studio,  and  ask  him  if  he  wants  models. 
I  had  many  a  pretty  girl  in  my  studio,  when  I  was 
making  '  The  Coquette.'  " 

"  But  I  should  think,"  said  Mr.  Ellis,  "  it  would 
be  very  embarrassing  both  to  the  models  and  to 
the  sculptor." 

"  No.   He  is  engrossed  in  his  work,  and  the  nov- 


168      KENNY    MAKES    DOUGH    FIGURES. 


elty  of  the  thing  soon  wears  off,  while  the  model 
has  already  become  accustomed  to  it." 

Mr.  Ellis  and  his  party  now  thanked  the  artist 
for  his  politeness  to  them,  and  took  their  leave. 
As  they  rode  home,  they  discussed  what  they  had 
seen  and  heard,  and  experienced  much  gratifica 
tion  at  the  result  of  their  visit.  Kenny  declared 
he  meant  to  begin  at  once  to  be  a  sculptor.  Ac 
cordingly,  when  he  reached  home,  he  asked  his 
father  to  give  him  something  to  make  figures  out 
of.  Mr.  Ellis  said  he  really  did  not  know  what 
Kenny  could  have,  unless  he  should  get  some 
dough  from  the  kitchen.  So  Kenny  went  to  the 
kitchen,  and  asked  Mary  to  give  him  some  dough. 
Mary  said  there  was  none  then,  but'she  would  give 
him  some  when  she  made  biscuit  for  supper.  It 
was  with  difficulty  he  could  wait  till  then,  so  full 
was  he  of  becoming  a  sculptor,  the  first  step  to 
which,  he  thought,  was  to  mould  dough  into  vari 
ous  shapes.  But  Kenny  did  not  experience  the 
success  he  had  hoped.  The  dough  was  soft  and 
sticky,  and  would  not  assume  any  very  regular 
shape.  But,  by  dint  of  considerable  effort,  he  at 
last  made  a  tolerable  figure  of  a  man.  The  diffi 
culty  was,  however,  that  the  man  could  not  be 
made  to  stand  up.  It  had  to  be  kept  all  the  time 
lying  upon  the  block  of  wood  upon  which  it  had 
been  made.  At  last  he  concluded  to  bake  it,  and 


IS    PUTTY    GREASY?  169 


by  -this  means  the  desired  stiffness  and  hardness 
were  secured.  But  its  shape  was  injured  in  bak 
ing.  Besides,  Kenny  did  not  think  it  very  dig 
nified  to  bake  his  statue  just  like  a  biscuit.  But  it 
was  the  best  he  could  do. 

A  day  or  two  after,  he  was  out  at  the  greenhouse 
watching  the  painters  paint  the  windows.  They 
used  putty  to  fill  up  the  holes  which  had  been 
made  by  the  nails.  There  was  a  large  piece  of 
this  putty,  and  Kenny  amused  himself  by  working 
it  in  his  hands.  Presently  it  occurred  to  him  that 
this  would  be  better  than  dough.  It  was  far  less 
brittle,  and  would  stay  in  the  shape  into  which  it 
was  made.  He  determined  to  go  and  see  if  he 
could  not  get  a  piece  of  putty  for  his  own  use. 
He  thought  he  would  go  to  Gustave,  as  he  kept 
every  thing  of  that  sort  in  his  shop  in  the  stable- 
loft,  and  he  felt  pretty  sure  that  Gustave  would 
give  him  some,  if  he  had  any.  He  found  Gustave 
at  the  stable. 

"  Gustave,"  said  he,  "  I  want  you  to  give  me 
some  putty." 

"  Why,  what  do  you  want  with  putty  ?  It  will 
grease  your  clothes." 

"  Is  putty  greasy  ?" 

"  Certainly,  it  has  oil  in  it.     But  what  do  you 
want  with  putty  ?     I  suppose  I  could  let  you  have 
some,  but  it  is  not  a  very  clean  plaything." 
15 


170  PUTTY    FIGUKES. 


"  Oh,  I  don't  want  it  as  a  plaything.  I  want  to 
make  statues.  You  see,  Gustave,  I  went  the  other 
day  to  see  a  beautiful  statue,  and  the  gentleman 
who  made  it  said,  when  he  was  a  boy,  he  was  al 
ways  making  figures  out  of  all  sorts  of  things,  and 
now  I  want  to  do  so,  and  perhaps  after  a  while, 
Gustave,  I  shall  make  a  great  statue  too." 

"  Well,  is  putty  the  best  thing  ?" 

"  It  is  the  best  thing  I  can  get*  I  tried  dough, 
but  it  did  not  do  very  well;  but  I  have  been  trying 
some  putty,  and  I  think*  that  will  answer." 

Gustave  now  went  up-stairs,  and  presently  re 
turned,  bringing  a  big  piece  of  putty,  which  he 
told  Kenny  he  would  lend  him.  But  Kenny  said 
he  did  not  want  it  lent  to  him — he  wanted  it  as  a 
gift,  to  do  as  he  chose  with  and  to  keep.  Gustave 
said,  finally,  that  he  would  give  it  up  to  him  on 
one  condition,  that  if  ever  Kenny  got  tired  of  it, 
he  should  have  it  again,  and  Kenny  readily  con 
sented  to  this,  because  now,  he  said,  he  need  never 
give  up  the  putty  until  he  choose,  and  he  did  not 
believe  this  would  ever  be  the  case. 

Kenny  found,  as  he  supposed,  that  putty  was  a 
much  more  suitable  material  than  dough;  but  there 
remained  the  same  difficulty  that  he  had  found 
with  the  dough,  namely,  to  get  it  stiff  and  hard. 
He  asked  Gustave  how  this  could  be  secured. 
Gustave  said  he  did  not  know,  but  he  supposed 


KENNY    AND    FRANK.  171 

that  the  best  plan  would  be,  when  he  had  com 
pleted  a  figure  to  put  it  in  some  good  place  out  of 
doors.  He  said  he  knew  that  the  putty  on  the 
windows,  which  was  exposed  to  the  air,  soon  be 
came  hard.  Kenny  determined  to  try  this  expe 
dient.  He  succeeded  in  making  several  figures, 
which  were  really  quite  life-like.  One  was  a  frog, 
copied  from  a  glass  frog  which  his  father  had  on 
a  paper-weight.  Another  was  a  dog  crouching. 
This  was  copied  from  an  ornamental  figure  on  the 
mantel  of  the  library.  While  Kenny  was  engag 
ed  in  this  work,  Frank  stood  by,  watching  with 
the  greatest  interest.  Indeed,  he  was  very  anxious  \ 
to  be  at  work  himself,  and  it  was  with  great  diffi 
culty  that  Kenny  could  keep  him  from  the  putty. 
When  Kenny  had  used  all  his  material,  and  had 
several  figures  lying  on  the  board  before  him,  he 
asked  Frank  to  go  and  ask  Gustave  to  come  there. 
He  wanted  Gustave  to  tell  him  where  to  put  his 
figures  to  harden.  He  said  he  did  not  like  to  leave 
them,  for  fear  something  might  happen.  But 
Frank  did  not  like  to  go,  so  Kenny  told  him  to 
stay  and  take  care,  while  he  went  to  look  for  Gus 
tave.  Presently  he  returned  with  Gustave,  who 
told  him  he  had  better  put  his  figures  on  the  out 
side  of  one  of  the  window  sills.  He  said  there 
was  one  of  the  windows  in  his  room  which  was 
seldom  opened,  and  that  the  figures  might  be  put 


172     MATERIALS  FOR  SCULPTOR. 

~8* 

outside  of  that,  where  they  would  be  safe.  Ac 
cordingly,  he  and  Kenny  went  up,  Gustavo  carry 
ing  the  board  with  the  figures.  When  they  reach 
ed  the  room,  Gustave  opened  the  window,  and 
Kenny  carefully  placed  the  figures,  one  by  one, 
upon  the  sill  without.  Gustave  said  that  in  a  few 
days  the  putty  would  become  hard,  and  the  fig 
ures  would  be  fit  for  use.  That  night  Kenny  told 
his  father  what  he  had  done.  Mr.  Ellis  seemed 
to  think  it  very  ingenious,  and  said  he  wished 
Kenny  could  have  some  better  materials  to  work 
with. 

"Couldn't  he  have  some  soft  pine?"  inquired 
Mrs.  Ellis. 

"  Certainly ;  or  chalk,  or  plaster  of  Paris.  But 
the  difficulty  with  these  is,  that  a  knife  would  be 
needed,  a  sharp  knife,  and  I  fear  that  he  would  cut 
himself." 

"  Oh !  I  had  not  thought  of  that.  I  wouldn't  like 
at  all  for  him  to  have  a  knife." 

"  I  imagine,"  said  Mr.  Ellis,  "  he  will  have  to 
content  himself  with  drawing  and  painting  for  the 
present,  and  if  his  sculpture  mania  lasts,  he  can 
have  better  opportunities  when  he  is  older." 

A  few  days  after  this,  Kenny  asked  Gustave  to 
go  with  him  and  get  the  figures  from  the  window- 
sill,  as  he  was  sure  they  must  be  hard  by  this  time. 
Accordingly,  they  went  up,  and  to  Kenny's  great 


GUY'S    SERMON    ON    SCULPTURE.      173 

<&- 

delight,  found  the  figures  quite  hard,  and  much 
whitened,  so  as  to  bear  considerable  resemblance 
to  stone.  He  took  them  and  carried  them  to  his 
mother  and  to  his  Cousin  Guy,  both  of  whom  con 
gratulated  him  on  his  success.  Kenny  told  Cousin 
Guy  he  might  have  the  frog.  Cousin  Guy  said 
he  would  keep  it  among  his  curiosities,  and  prize 
it  very  much  as  a  souvenir  of  Kenny's  first  sculp 
ture. 

"  I  will  also,"  continued  he,  "  preach  you  a  little 
sermon  on  sculpture." 

"  I  shall  be  glad  to  hear  it." 

"  Well,  then,  my  first  remark  is,  that  you  have 
been,  ever  since  you  were  old  enough  to  under 
stand  any  thing,  a  sculptor,  and  that  you  will  con 
tinue  to  be  a  sculptor  as  long  as  you  live." 

"  I  do  not  understand  you,  Cousin  Guy." 

"I  will  explain  what  I  mean.  I  do  not  mean 
that  you  are  a  sculptor  of  clay  or  marble,  or  any 
thing  of  that  sort,  but  that  you  are  the  sculptor  of 
your  own  character.  You  are  every  day  doing 
something  to  determine  what  sort  of  a  person  you 
are  to  be,  both  in  this  world  and  in  the  next. 
Every  act  of  obedience,  every  good  thought,  every 
right  feeling,  every  victory  over  temptation,  makes 
its  impression  on  your  character  as  really  as  does 
the  chiselling  of  the  artist  leave  its  trace  upon  the 
marble  upon  which  he  is  working.  It  is  true  that 
15* 


174  FORMATION    OF    CHARACTER. 

the  formation  of  your  character  is  gradual,  but  it 
is  sure.  You  may  not  see,  and  your  friends  may 
not  see,  any  change  day  by  day,  but  the  work  is 
going  on  nevertheless,  and  in  a  few  months  the 
change  will  be  very  decided  and  manifest.  -You 
remember  the  sculptor  told  us  the  other  day  that 
sometimes  he  would  spend  hours  in  chiselling  a 
little  here  and  a  little  there,  without  any  percept 
ible  effect  to  a  bystander,  and  yet  all  this  helped 
to  complete  the  work,  and  make  a  perfect  statue. 
Do  you  not  see  that  you  are  a  sculptor  ?  It  is  true, 
indeed,  that  others  have  much  to  do  in  the  forma 
tion  o£  your  character.  Your  parents  and  daily 
associates  may  have  much  influence  over  you ; 
and  yet,  after  all,  it  mainly  depends  upon  you.  Yes, 
Kenny,  little  boy  as  you  are,  you  have  to  choose 
yourself,  whether  you  will  yield  to  the  good  influ 
ences  around  you,  or  to  the  evil.  Even  your  father 
cannot  subdue  your  evil  dispositions,  and  make 
you  act,  and  think,  and  feel  right.  This  work  you 
have  to  do  yourself.  I  do  not  mean  that  you  can 
perform  it  by  yourself.  On  the  contrary,  you  will 
need,  if  you  carve  a  beautiful  character,  daily, 
hourly  aid  from  God.  You  know  how  this  is  to 
be  secured ;  you  must  ask  Him  for  it. 

"And  now,  Kenny,  this  work-in  which  you  are 
engaged,  as  the  sculptor  of  your  own  character,  is 
one  of  vast  importance.  You  would  feel  very 


YOUNG    PEOPLE    VERY    PLIABLE.      175 


proud  and  happy,  had  you  executed  a  beautiful 
statue  which  every  one  admired,  but  a  beautiful 
character,  a  good  and  noble  man,  is  far  more 
lovely  than  any  statue  or  picture,  and  is  far  more 
admired  by  wise  men,  by  angels,  and  by  God. 
Besides,  a  statue  of  brass  or  of  marble,  cannot  last 
always.  When  a  few  centuries  shall  roll  around, 
it  will  lose  its  beauty,  and  finally  will  utterly 
decay  ;  but  a  soul  that  is  truly  good,  will  go  on  in 
creasing  in  goodness  and  beauty  for  ever  and  ever. 
"  I  have  one  other  remark  to  make,  suggested  by 
your  recent  experiments  in  moulding  figures.  You 
commenced  with  your  material  in  a  soft  condition, 
so  that  you  could  make  it  into  any  shape  you  choose. 
It  then  hardened,  so  that  you  could  break  it,  before 
you  could  alter  it  into  another  form.  Here,  now, 
is  this  frog  you  have  given  me.  A  few  days  ago 
it  was  so  soft,  that  you  could  print  it  with  your 
nail,  or  press  it  with  your  finger,  into  any  form. 
But  now  it  has  become  hard,  and  you  would  not 
find  it  easy  to  change  it  into  any  thing  else.  Well, 
Kenny,  it  is  just  the  same  wTay  with  your  char 
acter.  Now  it  is  as  the  putty  was;  it  is  easy  to 
be  shaped  either  for  good,  or  for  bad.  But  it  is 
hardening  every  day,  and  every  day  becoming 
more  and  more  fixed.  By  the  time  you  are  twen 
ty-five,  it  will  be  pretty  well  determined  what  sort 
of  a  man  you  are  to  be  afterwards.  This,  then,  is 


176        DETERMINATION    TO    BE    GOOD. 

the  most  important  period  of  your  life.  It  is  the 
formative  period.  It  is  the  period  when  it  is  prin 
cipally  to  be  decided  whether  or  not  yours  is  to  be 
a  character  more  beautiful  than  any  statue  that 
ever  was  carved.  Some  people  think  it  makes 
very  little  difference  how  a  boy  of  your  age  be 
haves.  You  see,  /  do  not  think  so.  On  the  con 
trary,  Kenny,  I  watch  your  conduct  every  day 
with/ great  anxiety.  But  my  sermon  is  getting 
long,  and  I  will  stop.  Tell  me,  have  you  under 
stood  it,  and  have  you  been  interested  ?" 

"Oh,  I  have  been  very  much  interested,  and 
have  understood  most  of  it  very  well.  I  am  going 
to  try  to  be  good  every  day." 

The  experiments  recorded  in  the  foregoing 
pages,  were  the  conclusion  of  Kenny's  efforts  in 
sculpture.  As  has  been  seen,  -he  was  less  success 
ful  in  this  department,  than  in  drawing  and  paint 
ing,  but  even  in  this  he  found  pleasure  and  profit, 
and  his  cousin's  sermon  on  sculpture  was  not  with 
out  excellent  effects. 


THE    END. 


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From  the  New  York  Observer. 

"  Mr.  Abbott  is  known  to  be  a  pure,  successful  and  useful  writer  for  the 
young  and  old.  He  is  also  the  most  popular  author  of  juvenile  book* 
now  living." 

From  the  Boston  Traveller. 

"No  writer  of  children's  books,  not  even  the  renowned  Peter  Farley, 
bu  ever  been  BO  successful  as  Abbott," 


Books  Published  by  Sheldon  &  Co. 

THE    BRIGHTHOPE    SERIES. 

By  J.  T.  TROWBEIDGB. 


The  Old  Battle  Ground, 
Father  Brighthope, 


Iron  Thorpe, 
Burr  Cliff. 


Hearts  and  Faces. 
6  vols.     18mo,  in  cloth,  gilt  back,  uniform.    Price  $2  50. 

From  the  Boston  Transcript. 

"  Mr.  Trowbridge  has  never  written  anything  that  was  not  popular,  and 
each  new  work  has  added  to  his  fame.    lie  has  a  wonderful  faculty  aa 
a  portrayer  of  New  England  characteristics,  and  New  England  scenes." 
From,  the  Salem  Register. 

"  Mr.  Trowhridge  will  find  many  welcomers  to  the  field  of  authorship 
as  often  as  he  chooses  to  enter  it,  and  to  leave  as  pleasant  a  record  behind 
him  as  the  story  of  "  Father  Brighthope."  The  "  Old  Battle  Ground"  is 
worthy  of  his  reputation  as  one  of  the  very  best  portrayers  of  New  Eng 
land  character  and  describers  of  New  England  scenes." 

THE    GELDART    SERIES. 

By  Mrs.  THOMAS  GELDART. 

6  vols.     16mo.     Illustrated  by  JOIIN  GILBEXT. 

Price  of  each  50  cents. 


Daily  Thoughts  for  a  Child, 
Truth  is  Everything, 
Sunday  Morning  Thoughts, 


Sunday  Evening  Thoughts, 
Emilie  the  Peacemaker. 
Stories  of  Scotland. 


From  the  Boston  Register. 

"These  charming  volumes  are  the  much  admired  Gcldart  Series  of 
books  for  the  young,  which  have  established  a  very  enviable  reputation 
in  England  for  their  wholesome  moral  tendency.  They  are  beautifully 
printed  16mo  volumes,  with  gilt  backs,  and  are  sold  at  50  cents  each. 
There  are  five  volumes  in  the  series,  and  they  will  form  a  very  choice  ad 
dition  to  a  youth's  library." 

from  the  Worcester  Palladium. 

"What  children  read  they  often  long  retain;  therefore  it  Is  desirable 
that  their  books  should  be  of  a  high  moral  tone.  In  this  respect  Mrs. 
Gcldart  has  few  equals  as  an  author,  and  we  hope  that  her  worlu  -will  b* 
fomnd  ia  every  child's  library." 


Books  Published  by  Sheldon  &  Co. 
HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 

By  Mrs.  THOMAS  GELDART,         * 

Author  of  "  Daily  Thoughts  for  a  Child,"  "  Stories  of  Scotland,"  &tt 

"With  Twenty  Illustrations,  by  J.  R.  Chapin,  and  others. 

1  voL,  16mo.     Price  75  cents. 

From,  the  Detroit  Advertiser. 

"The  work  has  been  executed  with  rare  taste  and  judgment,  and  con. 
tains  all  the  most  important  events  in  the  history  of  England,  and  all  that 
it  is  really  important  for  ordinary  readers  to  know." 

From  the  Philadelphia  North  American. 

"  Much  of  the  information  is  quite  curious,  and  drawn  from  recondite 
sources." 

From  the  Baltimore  Patriot. ' 
"Precisely  suited  to  the  rising  generation." 

From  the  Boston  Journal 

"  This  work  exactly  realizes  our  idea  of  what  a  juvenile  history  should 
be.  It  is  simple  and  direct,  without  degrading  the  dignity  of  history ;  in 
teresting,  without  converting  it  into  a  romance,  and  above  all  draws  such 
pictures  of  dress  and  manners  in  the  olden  time,  that  instead  of  a  list  of 
hard  names,  living  characters,  eating,  drinking,  and  sleeping  like  our 
selves,  walk  before  the  mind's  eye  of  the  youthful  readers.  This  work 
does  for  juveniles  what  Charles  Knight's  Popular  History  is  doing  for 
mature  readers." 

From  the  Philadelphia  City  Item. 

"  We  have  read  the  volume,  and  have  pleasure  in  commending  it  to 
public  pei  asal.  It  is  a  work  for  old  or  young,  and  it  is  so  full  of  interest 
that  no  one  will  lay  it  down  until  its  details  have  been  mastered." 

From  the  Church  Journal. 

"  A  very  pleasant,  easy,  readable  book  Is  Mrs.  Geldart's  Popular  His 
tory  of  England.  She  has  had  long  practice  in  writing  for  children,  and 
it  is  such  practice  as  makes  perfect." 

From  the  Philadelphia  Christian  Instructor. 

"We  know  of  no  History  of  England  so  well  adapted  to  prove  an  at 
tractive  and  instructive  reading-book  for  young  persons  as  the  ono  befora 
us.  The  stylo  is  very  simple,  but,  at  the  same  time,  chaste  and  elevated ; 
and,  what  is  very  important,  the  book  abounds  with  practical  lessons  for 
the  young.  Although  specially  designed  for  this  class,  it  may  be  read  with 
interest  and  profit  by  all  persons." 

From  the  New  York  News. 

"British,  Danish,  and  Saxon  England,  from  the  conquest  of  Csesar  t» 
that  of  \Villinm  the  Norman,  is  described  in  this  book  with  a  picturesque- 
ness  and  vigor  which  make  it  most  fascinating.  Designed  for  the  young 
it  has  charms  for  readers  of  every  class  and  age.  The  engravings  are  ex 
cellent,  and  give  many  drawings  of  arms,  utensils,  and  implements  of  tho 
ancient  inhabitants  of  England.  It  is  rather  a  picture  than  a  history, 
Mthough  historical  characters  are  introduced  to  glvo  life  and  interest  to 
'at  description." 


JSooks  Published  by  Sheldon  d'  Co. 

THE    IIOUSEIIOLD    LIBRARY. 

f 
A  SERIES  OF  CHOICE  BIOGRAPHIES  BY  DISTINGUISHED  AUTHOB& 

In  Eighteen  volumes.     18mo.     Muslin.    Uniform  style. 
Price  of  each  volume  50  cents. 

VOL.  I.— LIFE   AND   MARTYRDOM    OF  JOAN   OP  ARC.    By 

MlCHELET. 

VOL.         II.— LIFE  OF  ROBERT  BURNS.    By  THOMAS  CABLYLZ,  and 

others. 
VOL.       III.— LIFE  AND  TEACHINGS  OF  SOCRATES.    By  GEOBGB 

GBOTE.  s 

VOL.       IV.— LIFE  OF  COLUMBUS.    By  ALPHONSE  J>E  LAMABrnco, 
VOL.         V.— LIFE  oVt-REDERICK  THE  GREAT.    By  LOBD  MAOAU- 

LAY. 

VOL.       VI.— LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  PITT.    By  LOBD  MACATJLAY. 

VOL.  VII.— LIFE  OF  MAHOMET.  By  GIBBOX.  With  the  Notes  of 
DEAN  M i I.MAN  and  Da.  WILLIAM  Sunn. 

VCL.  VIIL— LIFE  OF  LUTHER.  By  CHKV.  BUNSEN.  With  a  Spirit 
ual  Portrait  of  Luther  by  CABLTLE,  and  an  Appendix 
by  SIB  Wsi.  HAMILTON. 

VOL.        IX.— LIFE  OF  OLIVER  CROMWELL.     By  LAMAHTrNK. 

VOL.          X.— LIFE  OF  TORQUATO  TASSO.     By  G.  U.  AVIFFEN. 

VOL.        XL>  LIFE  OF  PETER  THE  GREAT.    In  two  Volumes.   Com- 
VOL.       XII.j          piled  by  the  Editor. 

VOL.  XIIL— LIFE  OF  MILTON.  By  PEOFESSOTI  MASSOX;  and  an 
Estimate  of  Milton's  Genius  and  Character,  by  LOBD 
MACATTLAY. 

VOL.     XIV.— LIFE  OF  THOMAS  A'BECKET.    By  DEAN  MILMAH; 
VOL.      XV.— LIFE  OF  HANNIBAL.    By  THOMAS  ABN-OLD,  LL.D. 

VOL.     XVI— LIFE    OF  VITTORIA   COLONXA.       By  T.  ADOLPHTTS 

TBOLLOPE. 

VOL.    XVn._ LIFE  OF  JULIUS  CAESAR.   By  HENBY  G.  LIDDELL,  D.D. 
VOL.  XVIU.— LIFE  OF  MARY  STUART.     By  ALTUONSB  »B 

TIXB. 


JJooks  Published  by  Sheldon  &  Co. 

THE    HOUSEHOLD    LIBRARY. 

NOTICES    OF  THE    PRESS. 

From  the  Philadelphia  News. 

"The  story  of  the  'Maid  of  Orleans'  has  often  been  told,  but  never 
with  such  thrilling  pathos  as  by  Michelet.  All  the  incidents  of  the  heroine's 
life  are  invested  with  new  interest,  and  her  cruel  and  barbarous  execution 
receive  at  the  hands  of  the  eloquent  and  indignant  historian  the  condem 
nation  which  it  so  well  deserves.  The  volume  is  got  up  in  beautiful 
style." 

From  the  United  States  Journal. 

"  The  '  Life  of  Socrates'  is  from  Mr.  Grote's  splendid  History  of  Greece. 
It  is  very  complete,  and  will  serve  to  introduce  the  great  Athenian  phi 
losopher  to  a  better  household  acquaintance  in  this  country." 

From  the  Boston  Bulletin. 

"  Carlyle's  beautiful  essay  is  one  of  the  finest  compositions  of  the  kind 
ever  written — and  every  admirer  of  the  genius  of  Robert  Burns,  as  well  as 
all  literary  students,  will  find  it  to  be  a  volume  both  of  interest  and 
ralue." 

From  the  Christian  Ambassador. 

"  This  series  is  peculiarly  calculated  for  school  libraries,  and  they  should 
find  their  way  into  all  our  common  school  and  Sunday  school  libraries. 
We  are  confident  the  '  Household  Library1  will  secure  a  widely-extended 
circulation." 

From  the  Congregational  Herald. 

"  The  romance  of  history  is  so  much  better  for  the  young  than  the 
romance  of  fiction,  that  we  are  always  glad  to  see  such  books  appear." 

From,  the  Century. 

"  The  plan  is  to  present,  from  the  very  best  authorities,  biographies  0* 
episodes  of  history,  admitting  of  separation  without  injury." 

From  the  Evening  Saturday  Argus. 

"  All  the  volumes  of  this  series  are  deserving  a  large  share  of  popular 
favor,  as  they  are  calculated  to  promote  a  familiarity  with  the  great 
spirit  of  history  and  literature,  tempting  the  reader  to  their  study  when 
the  Bight  of  more  ponderous  tomes  would  drive  them  back  iu  despair." 


s  Published  by  Sheldon  <&  Co. 


SUNDAY  SCHOOL  BOOKS. 

A  New  Series  of  choice  booka  for  Sunday  School  Libraries, 
nearly  all  new,  and  prettily  Illustrated. 

THE  TEAR  OF  JUBILEE.    By  Mrs.  Maria  T.  Richards.    30  cents. 

THE  PIONEER  PREACHER  ;  an  Autobiography.    40  cants. 

ROSE  MORTON'S  JOURNAL  for  January.    30  cents. 

CLEMENTINA'S  MIRROR.    35  cents. 

ISABEL;  or,  Influences  for  Good.    25  cents. 

POOR  NELLY  ;  or,  the  Golden  Mushroom.    35  cents. 

THE  IRISH  SCHOLAR.    25  cents. 

THE  CASTILIAN  MARTYRS.     25  cents. 

MEMOIR  OF  OLD  HUMPHREY.    35  cents. 

LITTLE  AGNES;  and  Other  Stories.     25  cents. 

THE  CHILD  ANGEL,  and  ANGEL  LILY.    25  cents. 

THE  YOUNG  ENVELOP-MAKERS.    30  cents. 

LOOK  UP;  or,  Girls  and  Flowers.     20  cents. 

A  BOOK  FOR  BOYS.     35  cents. 

A  SWARM  OF  B's.    Six  Charming  Stories.    25  cents. 

STORIES  FOR  SCHOOL  BOYS.    Second  Series.    30  cents. 

MATTY  GREGG.    30  cents. 

THE  SUNDAY  SHOP  ;  or,  The-  Fourth  Commandment    20  cento 

LITE  OF  GIDEON.    20  cents. 


Books  Published  by  Sheldon  <&  Co. 

SUNDAY  SCHOOL  BOOKS. 


ROSE  MORTON'S  JOURNAL  for  February.    35  cents. 

JESSIE  ALLISON.    By  Mrs.  Mary  A.  Richands.    40  centa, 

HESTER  AND  I.  -  By  Mrs.  Manners.     40  cents. 

FACTS  FOB  BOYS.     25  cents. 

FACTS  FOR  GIRLS.    25  cents. 

EVERY  DAY  DUTY.    25  cents. 

THE  LONDON  APPRENTICE.    By  "W.  H.  Pearce.    25  cents. 

GAMBLING/  IN  ITS  INFANCY  AND  PROGRESS.    30  cents. 

THE  GREAT  SECRET.    By  Mrs.  E.  C.  Judson.    40  centa. 

CHARLES  LINK.    By  the  same.    25  cents. 

ALLEN  LUCAS.    By  the  same.    25  cents. 

MY  FRIEND'S  FAMILY.    By  Mrs.  Marshall    25  cents. 

WAY  FOR  A  CHILD  TO  BE  SATED.    25  cents. 

LIFE  OP  BUNYAN.    By  Ira  Chase,  D.D.     25  cents. 

HELEN  M.  MASON.    By  Francis  Mason,  D.D.    35  cent* 

FATHER  CLARK  ;  or,  the  Pioneer  Preacher.    40  centa. 


Books  Published  by  Sheldon  &  Co. 


SUNDAY  SCHOOL  BOOKS. 


BE  COURTEOUS.     By  Mrs.  M.  H.  Maxwell.     25  cents. 

LITTLE  GRANITE;  or,  the  Now  Hampshire  Boy.    20  cents. 

QUIET  THOUGHTS  FOB  QUIET  HOURS.     25  cents. 

OLD  HUMPHREY'S  FRIENDLY  APPEALS.    30  cents. 

CHARLES  ROUSSEL;  or,  Industry  and  Honesty.    30  cents. 

CHEERFUL  CHAPTERS.    By  Old  Alan  Gray.     25  cents. 

MARGARET  BROWNING  ;  or,  Trust  in  God.    25  cents. 

BRIGHTNESS  AND  BEAUTY.    25  cents. 

THREE  MONTHS  UNDER  THE  SNOW.    25  cents. 

FRANK  NETHERTON;  or,  the  Talisman.     30  cents. 

IRISH  STORIES,  for  Thoughtful  Readers.    35  centa. 

STORIES  FOR  VILLAGE  LADS.    25  cents. 

MAGIC.    Pretended  Miracles,  <tc.    25  cents. 

ALICE  "WADE  AND  LAME  ISAAC.    20  cents. 

MARTYR  OF  VELVORDE.    35  cents. 

Lois  MEAD;  or,  the  Adopted  Daughter.     25  cents. 

THE  PASTOR'S  HOUSEHOLD.  By  Mrs.  Chas.  TV.  Du  Bose.   40  eta. 

THE  Swiss  BASKET-MAKER,  and  Other  Stories.     25  cents. 

MABEL'S  NEW  TEAR,  &c.    By  Mrs.  Bradley.     30  cents. 

EMILY  GRAY.    By  Mrs.  Maria  T.  Richards.    35  cents. 

THE  EMIGRANT'S  MOTHER.    30  cents. 

THE  PRISONER'S  CHILD,  and  Other  Stories.    25  centa. 


Books  Published  by  Sheldon  <t  Cb. 

FORTY  YEARS'  EXPERIENCE  IN 
SUNDAY-SCHOOLS. 

BY    STEPHEN    H     TTNG,    D.D., 

Rector  of  St.  George's  Church,  New  York. 

1  neat  16mo  voL,  price  60  cents. 

From  the  Boston  Gaattte. 

"As  a  matter  of  coarse,  the  volume  is  in  a  measure  autobiographical, 
which  would  alone  secure  general  attention  to  it." 

From  the  Southern  Churchman. 

"No  one  is  entitled  to  speak  about  Snnday-tchools  with  more  authority 
than  Dr.  Tyng,  and  no  one  can  read  this  volume  without  obtaining  most 
valuable  hints  for  the  management  of  a  Sunday-school." 

From  the  Boston  Courier. 

"This  little  work  of  a  distinguished  divine  will  doubtless  prove  of  great 
service  to  superintendents  and  teachers  of  Sunday-schools." 

From  the  Troy  Times. 

"  In  a  literary  point  of  view,  they  are  marked  by  all  the  excellencies  for 
which  the  reverend  author  is  noted ;  while  the  amount  of  real,  useful 
knowledge  they  convey  in  a  brief  and  practical  form,  upo»  a  subject  the 
Importance  of  which  is  little  understood,  is  really  surprising." 

From  Vie  2f.  T.  Intelligencer. 

Few  pastors  have  been  favored  with  so  large  a  measure  of  experience 
and  success  in  the  work  of  Sabbath-school  instruction  as  the  venerable 
pastor  of  St.  George's  Church.  As  the  present  volume  contains  the  re 
sults  of  the  author  s  long  experience,  it  will  be  a  welcome  addition  to  our 
Sabbath-school  literature." 

From  the  N.  T.  Independent. 

"Every  Sabbath-school  teacher  should  read  it:  every  pastor  might 
profit  by  it." 

From  the  tf.  T.  Observer. 

"  This  will  be  a  very  welcome  volume  to  Sunday-school  teachers,  and 
•,to  all  who  are  interested  in  Sunday-schools.  It  embodies  the  experience 
and  the  counsels  of  one  who,  by  his  deep  interest  in  the  cause,  and  by  a 
personal  devotion  to  the  work,  even  in  its  details,  and  by  a  success  which 
has  been  rarely  if  ever  equaled,  is  qualified  to  speak  with  great  profit 
upon  the  Important  subject.  Wo  have  ofu-n  made  mention  of  the  school 
at  St.  Georgi  a  church,  as  perhaps  the  largest  in  the  country,  and  as  ex 
hibiting  results,  not  only  in  the  chief  end  of  Sabbath-school  instruction, 
out  in  the  great  work  of  Christian  benevolence  and  Christian  activity, 
which  we  delightful  to  contemplate.  In  these  pages  tho  author  impart^ 
in  a  measure,  the  secret  of  his  success.  We  are  sure  that  the  volume  h&j 
a  great  mission  to  accomplish  for  good." 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 

AT 

LOS  ANGELES 
LIBRARY 


UC  SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 


AA    001  242011    3 


UCLA-Young  Research  Library 

PS2999   .T236K 

y 


